CITY’S NASRI NIGHTMARE
Club could be stuck with £12.5m wage bill for player who is facing drug ban
MANCHESTER City fear they may be stuck with Samir Nasri and it could end up costing them £25million.
The £120,000-a-week midfielder, 30, who is currently on loan at Sevilla, is surplus to requirements at City and the subject of a UEFA probe into an alleged breach of doping rules.
He has been linked with a number of clubs, but if he is banned, club officials are concerned that City could be lumbered with paying £12.5m in wages to a player who cannot play and who has two years left on his contract — not to mention missing out on a potential transfer fee of £12m.
The investigation was launched after a bizarre incident last December in which Nasri appeared to use an intravenous drip at a Los Angeles clinic.
If he is found to be in breach of anti-doping rules he could face a ban of up to four years, although two is thought to be more likely.
Nasri was with the Spanish club when he made a visit to the LA intravenous therapy clinic ‘ Drip Doctors’, who tweeted that they had provided the player with ‘an IV drip to keep him hydrated and in top health during his busy soccer season with Sevilla’.
The Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sport initially launched a probe, which
Sportsmail understands is now being handled by UEFA.
Such treatmentsments are banned by the World Anti-tiDoping Agencyy unless administered in quantities of no more than 50 millilitres per six-hour period, or when a certificate of speciall dispensation on medical groundsunds has been obtained.ined.
Nasri wouldld hhave needed a Therapeutic Use Exemption from the regulation but whether he had one is unclear.
If he is banned, City may well seek legal advice and explore their options with regards to the player’s contract.
After the Drip Doctors tweet, a number of responses were sent
from Nasri’sN account which suggestedsuggeste the clinic had also pprovidedoided servicess of a sexual nature. The player later claimed his account had been hacked.
Reports have linked Nasri with a lucrative move to China, while Turkish giants Besiktas and Galatasaray have also been named as potential bidders, along with AC Milan.
Nasri, who was sent off for butting Leicester’s Jamie Vardy in the Champions League round of 16 in March, has had a career of ups and downs since joining City from Arsenal for £24m in 2011.
He won two Premier League titles at the club, but former manager Roberto Mancini, in his final season in charge, accused Nasri of only giving ‘50 per cent’ in training.
The Italian joked that he would like to punch Nasri because of his inconsistent form.
The player had a resurgence under Manuel Pellegrini and signed a five- year contract in 2014. However, following Pep Guardiola’s arrival last summer Nasri left for Sevilla.
Both Manchester City and UEFA declined to comment.