Nolito wants to leave Manchester City over issues with minutes, weather

Nolito no longer wants to play for Manchester City.

In conversation with El Transistor, Nolito expressed his desire to abandon City, pointing to a lack of minutes, an aspiration to play at the 2018 World Cup, a hard time learning English, and the weather. The Spanish forward was limited to 19 appearances in the Premier League last season, 10 of which were as a substitute.

"I am under the contract, so the club will decide, but I want to leave," Nolito said, according to the Guardian. "I haven't played in six months. I will do everything possible to make Spain's World Cup squad. I have learnt very, very little English - it's very hard. Just 'tomorrow,' 'good morning,' 'good afternoon' and a little more. My daughter's face has changed colour - it looks like she's been living in a cave."

On Tuesday, Nolito was spotted in an ice cream parlour with Sevilla's sporting director, Oscar Arias. But the Andalusian attacker insisted they met by chance, saying: "I was just casually shopping for clothes for my wife in Seville. I went to get a coffee and bumped into Sevilla's director of football casually."

(Photo courtesy: AS)

Nolito, who joined City from Celta Vigo for a reported transfer fee of £13.8 million, only played 779 minutes in the Premier League last season, bagging four goals and two assists during that time. He had previously worked under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, and reportedly turned down a chance to return to the Blaugrana in favour of reuniting with the Catalan manager at the Etihad Stadium.

Celta is apparently interested in bringing Nolito back, as Felipe Minambres, the Galician club's sporting director, said: "Nolito is an interesting player, who played and succeeded here. He is a great player, but in order for things to be completed with Nolito, just as with the majority of signings, three parties have to be in agreement. This, at times, is not easy."