PEP Guardiola admits he did not want to sell Riyad Mahrez this summer but says the club could not turn down Al-Ahli's lucrative offer for him.
The 32-year-old was not included in City's travelling squad for their pre-season trip to Asia and formally completed his exit on Friday.
City accepted an fee which could rise to £30million for the winger, a deal they felt was too good to turn down for a player that didn't start every week.
In an ideal world, they might have kept him though and Guardiola admits he would have been more than happy for Mahrez to stay.
This story is from the July 30, 2023 edition of MEN on Sunday.
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This story is from the July 30, 2023 edition of MEN on Sunday.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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