Sevilla’s Nzonzi returning to England with point to prove
MADRID: If Steven Nzonzi had things his way he might have been facing Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid in the Champions League last week rather than Manchester United on Tuesday.
The former Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers midfielder has admitted regret at not completing a deal last summer to join Paris Saint- Germain, who are still licking their wounds following a 5-2 aggregate defeat to the reigning European champions.
Born in the northern suburbs of Paris and a product of PSG’s youth system, the transfer back to France had a certain pull for the 29-year- old.
“I’m Parisian, and like all Parisians, it’s nice to play for your hometown team,” Nzonzi told French television show Canal Football Club.
“It would have been a good thing, but it did not happen.”
A tendency for itchy feet has been a recurring theme of Nzonzi’s career, the midfielder handing in two transfer requests in successive summers at Stoke before finally leaving for Sevilla in 2015.
He bade farewell to the Premier League with a thundering longrange strike against Liverpool, in a 6-1 win that was also Steven Gerrard’s final game for his boyhood team.
Ano t her me e t i n g w i t h Liverpool, a 3- 3 draw in the Champions League in November, looked likely to prompt another move, after a bust-up with coach Eduardo Berizzo led to Nzonzi being substituted at half-time.
“My future is clearly away from Sevilla,” Nzonzi said. “The only thing that disappoints me is the way it has ended.”
But instead, it was Berizzo who left, sacked a month later, and Nzonzi stayed, only to regain momentum and favour under current coach Vincenzo Montella.
“I’ll talk to him to know his state of mind,” Montella said at his opening press conference. Nzonzi has played in 16 out of Sevilla’s 17 games since the turn of the year.
Even at international level, Sam Allardyce was prompted by Nzonzi’s father to enquire whether the midfielder could be eligible to play for England, a possibility ended by a single cap earned for France under-21s. Nzonzi won his first two caps for France’s senior team in November. — AFP