Man City hero Pablo Zabaleta spent the summer texting friends to convince them he was not leaving Premier League side
The Etihad hero has a year left on his current contact and Pep Guardiola wants to keep him
MANCHESTER CITY defender Pablo Zabaleta pulled out of the Copa America to undergo an operation but could have injured his fingers typing out his own transfer news.
The Etihad hero had a difficult season last year, struggling with injury and entering the final year of his contract with no negotiations in motion yet.
After starting just 12 Premier League games last season, the fans’ favourite rejected the chance to fight for Argentina this summer and instead went under the knife for a pesky ankle problem.
But his rest and recuperation was constantly disrupted as the two-time league winner had to keep convincing people he wasn’t shooting off before the start of the Pep Guardiola revolution.
The 31-year-old revealed: “It’s been quite a busy summer for me.
“I had surgery on my ankle and decided to turn down the Copa America because last season I struggled with injuries and my ankle was not right so I decided to have surgery to remove the physical issues that created problems for me last season.
“I was doing rehab through the whole of May and June before coming back for pre-season and then so many people were texting me because they were hearing a lot of stuff about me leaving Manchester City.
“I was on holiday so I was texting everyone saying ‘I’m a Manchester City player’.
“People thought I was leaving and I know there’s been a lot of speculation this summer but Manchester City was always my priority.
“I’ve been at this club for so long and Manchester has been a fantastic place for me to be, especially playing for this great football club.”
There were understandably plenty of teams queuing up to sign the former Espanyol man who has been a City regular since he joined back in 2008.
But he wanted to stay and convince the new boss that there’s plenty left in the classy veteran’s tank and he is pleased the Barcelona hero has kept him on for another campaign in a sky-blue shirt.