The Guardian report that Samir Nasri is considering international retirement after being omitted from Didier Deschamps' preliminary 30-man France World Cup squad. Nasri contributed 7 goals and 7 assists to Manchester City's fine 2013/2014 campaign that saw them pick up both the Capital One Cup and the Premier League title, but the 26-year-old will be watching the tournament elsewhere for the second time in four years.
(Nasri has made 41 appearances for the France national team)
"It's a little bit hard to accept. I need to take some time now to think about the national team because it's been twice now that they take away a World Cup from me," Nasri told Sky Sports News.
"You can go around and ask any player if they're happy to be on the bench, nobody's going to say yes. I need to think a little bit during the holiday, what will be my future in the national team, because missing two World Cups is really hard for a player."
(Nasri fired City to a final day victory over West Ham United on Sunday)
The Frenchman, who was awarded the Man of the Match award in City's last game of the season on Sunday, also revealed that he expected the news.
"I must confess, I knew before. Sometimes you have the feeling, when you call to speak to the manager and he doesn't want to speak to you, you know you're not going to go to the World Cup.
"It was a shock but I was prepared mentally. I'm okay. I respect his choice. He wanted to not pick me … good on him. I wish good luck to the French national team."
In Other News
In other news, Liverpool may have finished second in the league this season, but figures released by the Premier League yesterday have revealed that the Reds were the top earners as a result of 28 of their 38 league games being shown on live TV through either Sky Sports or BT Sport. The figures, shown in the Daily Express this morning, show that Liverpool earned almost £1m more than Manchester City despite missing out on the title. Cardiff City were the lowest earners, but still picked up a healthy sum of almost £63m.
(They may have been pipped to the trophy, but Liverpool still earned over £97m this season)
