Negredo: Leaving Manchester City was a mistake

Middlesbrough's on-loan striker Alvaro Negredo says he regrets departing from the Premier League when he left Manchester City to join Valencia in 2015.

The Spanish striker spent a single season in the English top flight, scoring 23 goals in 48 matches in all competitions. However, an injury and a breakdown with then-manager Manuel Pellegrini saw Negredo transferred to Valencia. Now back in the Premier League with Middlesbrough, Negredo says he wishes he had never left.

"I started the season well and the fans saw what I could do when I was 100 percent fit," Negredo told The Sun's David Coverdale.

"But from February I suffered from a shoulder injury which I never really recovered from. When you have a niggling injury like that, it stops you showing your best form. And I don't feel I ever regained the manager's trust.

"So unfortunately things didn't turn out how I wanted them to. I do think I made a mistake to go back to Spain when I was doing things well in the Premier League.

"But thankfully now I've been given the chance to come back and start this other chapter here in England again."

Negredo says he misses life at Manchester City - specifically his friends Pablo Zabaleta, Sergio Aguero, and David Silva - and wonders what life would be like under Pep Guardiola, but added that he's motivated to succeed with his new team under the guidance of Aitor Karanka.

"I'm convinced I can regain my form," Negredo said. "I have had two seasons where I have not shown my best so you have to be realistic and I am very grateful that Middlesbrough have given me the chance to start again and improve.

"England is a league I've always enjoyed and I want to show that better version of myself that you saw seasons ago."