Nasri: Sampaoli said 'You can drink, go to nightclubs, do what you want'
"I had a friendly relationship with Sampaoli, he was a friend more than a coach"
The French footballer Samir Nasri has remembered his time in Seville with Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli, who he considers more a "friend" than a boss, and revealed how he convinced him to join him in Spain.
"I had a friendly relationship with Sampaoli, he was a friend more than a coach," Nasri said on an Instagram live with the journalist Walid Acherchour.
"Sampaoli liked me so much that he said to me 'Come to our team, you can drink, go to nightclubs, do what you want and I'll cover your back. All I ask is that you play well on the pitch on the weekend.'
"In fact, one weekend I wasn't able to play and I wanted to go home and see my family and he offered to watch my house and look after my dog."
Nasri also spoke about the 18-month ban handed to him by UEFA for failing to follow anti-doping rules after he underwent treatment as a clinic in Los Angeles.
"What happened in Los Angeles ruined my season," he added. "It was an injection of vitamins that was legal and I had a prescription but the clinic injected me with a greater amount than I had expected. I was destroyed because I thought I was going to be banned for two years.
"I didn't want to play anymore after that. I even told Sampaoli to leave me out, but he always wanted me to play. I was lost, I was anxious and angry with everything. I didn't show it on the pitch but football was over for me."
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