Transfer news: Aleksandar Kolarov considered leaving Manchester City last season
Tuesday 1 April 2014 13:53, UK
Aleksandar Kolarov admits he contemplated leaving Manchester City last season, but is now playing regularly and feeling settled.
The Serbian defender found himself on the fringes of the first-team fold for much of the 2011/12 and 2012/13 campaigns under former boss Roberto Mancini.
A lack of opportunities led him to consider a move elsewhere, with various clubs reported to be keen on taking the former Lazio man back to Serie A.
Kolarov was, however, offered a clean slate following Mancini’s departure and Manuel Pellegrini’s subsequent appointment.
He is now enjoying his football again, as he shares left-back duties with Gael Clichy, and is hoping to add to a medal haul which has already delivered one Premier League title, one FA Cup and one League Cup success.
Kolarov told CityTV: “Last season I was thinking, because I didn’t play a lot, that maybe it was a good thing for me to move.
“I had a couple of opportunities, but in the end I refused everything because I didn’t want to go from here. I hadn’t shown the people what I can do. Now, this season, I think I have shown what I can do. For me it has been a victory, personally, for myself.
“If you play regularly you can improve a lot in every game. It is difficult if you play one and then don’t play three, four games. Training is one thing, the game is one thing. Playing regularly you can improve a lot.”
On Pellegrini’s rotation policy which sees him competing with Clichy for a defensive berth and occasionally being deployed on the left of midfield, Kolarov added: “We know that at this level you always have another player who is playing in your position. Until now the boss has rotated the team and I think we have done well.
“Of course me and him want to play every game, but the boss makes his choice and we are professionals.
“Maybe if someone is not happy then at the end of the season you can talk and you can find a solution, but both of us have played a lot so now it is important for us to win the trophies.”
