Guardiola confirms that Man City defender is heading to Roma
Coach Pep Guardiola said as much in a recent press conference, meaning that the Serbian will join the rivals of his former club, Lazio.
The full-back joined the Etihad side in 2010 for € 22.7 million from Lazio, for whom he had played three seasons.
Guardiola confirmed that the 31-year-old had personally requested a return to Italy, leading his Coach to say that he wouldn’t keep him against his will.
"Kolarov is one step to go to Roma," City’s Coach confirmed. He was discussing the Citizens’ situation in defence.
"That’s why we don’t have any other options [at left back].
"I don’t like to work with people who don’t want to stay. Kola helped me a lot last season in terms of many, many things. But he had a big chance to go back to Rome where he was before and he spoke to me, the club and asked me to leave.”
The Citizens are in the market for a number of defenders, including Danilo of Real Madrid and Benjamin Mendy, which should give them the talent they need to apply their Coach’s pass and press-heavy approach.
"Of course we would like to have the players as soon as possible," he said. "We know the transfer market and how complicated it is and we are going to find the best solution.
“We need defenders. We need two or three defenders,” the Catalan added.