“Today is worse. I am a 31-year-old free agent” – Man City exit hasn’t gone to plan for Eliaquim Mangala

Eliaquim Mangala, previously the most expensive defender in the world, has revealed how Pep Guardiola bluntly told him to leave the Etihad because he ‘wasn’t what he was looking for’ and opens up on his search for a new club

Mangala signed for City from Porto in 2014 for a fee of £32million, with that fee having subsequently been eclipsed by many transfers, most notably Harry Maguire’s £80million switch to Manchester United from Leicester in 2019.

The arrival of Guardiola in 2016 led to a significant decrease in Mangala’s playing time at City and he had loan spells at Valencia and Everton before eventually departing permanently in 2019.

Eliaquim, who has had the tag of Manchester City flop attached to him for years, has revealed he remains adamant that he can prove he is still capable of playing at the highest level if given the opportunity.

The Frenchman recently told L’Equipe, via Sport Witness: “When they call me, I will be ready. I know my value, I know my level. In Saint-Etienne, without preparation, I chained fifteen matches together without injury. Now I just have to find the right place.”

Although Mangala is confident that he is now in the right place, physically, to thrive again, he is aware that finding a new club at his age is likely to be far from straightforward – even if he isn’t best pleased by it.

He added: “A football player is a product, they buy a human being. Football is pure business and I understood that a long time ago.

“In this environment, we are also products. Today is worse. I am a 31-year-old free agent. If I had been in this situation a few years back, no problem… Today, a club will always favour a young person, because potentially on resale, there will be a profit. Society evolves like that, towards business, while the reality is on the ground.”