Football: Hart, Bony, Nasri and Mangala exit Man City

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Football: Hart, Bony, Nasri and Mangala exit Man City
Manchester City's Samir Nasri and Fabian Delph

Manchester - Chelsea were also active on the final day of the transfer window

By Agencies

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Published: Wed 31 Aug 2016, 9:47 PM

Last updated: Wed 31 Aug 2016, 11:49 PM

Manchester City streamlined their bloated squad after an offseason of heavy spending under new coach Pep Guardiola, sending Joe Hart, Wilfried Bony, Samir Nasri and Eliaquim Mangala on loan for the rest of the season on Wednesday.
Premier League title rival Chelsea were also active on the final day of the transfer window, signing Spanish left back Marcos Alonso for a reported 23 million pounds.
Guardiola has overseen the spending of more than $200 million on new players since taking over as City coach this offseason, and left it late to trim his 30-man squad. It meant getting rid of their starting goalkeeper for the past six years as well as three other players who cost City a combined 95 million pounds ($125 million).
Heading the clear-out was Hart, the England goalkeeper who was loaned to Italian club Torino after dropping to third choice at City behind new signing Claudio Bravo and Willy Caballero. In announcing Hart's departure after 10 years at the Etihad Stadium, City said he was a "key figure in a golden age in the club's history."
Bony, who hasn't played a minute for City under Guardiola, joined Stoke after seeing his career stall since joining from Swansea for 28 million pounds ($36.6 million) in January 2015.
Nasri was the third player to leave on loan, with the Frenchman heading to Spanish club Sevilla for the season. Guardiola said Nasri returned for preseason training "overweight" and played him only once in City's first five games, as a substitute against West Ham.
France center back Mangala also departed to Valencia - a day after the Spanish club sold fellow defender Shkodran Mustafi to Arsenal. Mangala reportedly cost City 42 million pounds (now $55 million) in 2014 but was never a regular. Nasri becomes Sevilla's 11th signing of the window with the huge turnover sparked by coach Unai Emery's departure to Paris Saint-German with the notoriously attack-minded Argentine Jorge Sampaoli now in charge at the Sanchez Pizjuan. "This is the last piece that the coach asked from us," said Sevilla sporting director Monchi.
"We have found the player we have been looking for practically since the market opened.
"A player who can play as a false winger and inside, a player with quality, capable of maintaining the ball and generating important possession in the opponent's half."
Sevilla lost in both the Spanish and European Super Cups to Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, but have started the La Liga season under Sampaoli brightly with four points from their opening two games. 
 


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