Why Midfielder Samir Nasri Has Played His Last Game for Manchester City

Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed Samir Nasri will miss the rest of the season with a groin injury, according to Manchester City's official Twitter account, leading to speculation the midfielder may well have played his last game for the club.

"

PELLEGRINI ON INJURIES: @SamNasri19 is the only player not fit for #cityvqpr. @VincentKompany is back.

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) May 8, 2015"

The news comes after Nasri appeared to have fallen out of favour with Pellegrini after some underwhelming performances. He was dropped for the game at Leicester after an insipid display in the defeat to Liverpool, and James Robson, writing in the Manchester Evening News, reported there had been a fallout with Pellegrini on the back of his omission. 

After playing 45 minutes of City’s 1-0 defeat to Barcelona in March, he was once again confined to the sidelines, marginalised, it seems, after a rash kick on Neymar as the frustration of being second best to the Spanish side boiled over.

Since then, his playing time has been limited, and in City’s last match, the 1-0 win away at Tottenham, he left the field injured after coming on just three minutes earlier, and he will now receive treatment for the remainder of the campaign. 

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

So what now for the 27-year-old?

The club are likely to want to sell him, if the right offer arrives. This summer looks set to be a crucial transfer window for City, with their squad in need of a revamp after a disappointing campaign.

Without the FFP sanctions that restricted their net spend to £49 million this summer, and with a host of players set to leave and free up space on the wage bill, there seems to be plenty of scope for City to make additions in the close season.

The problem they will have offloading Nasri is the length of his contract. He has four years left to run and is likely to be on a sizeable weekly wage, the kind only a handful of clubs could even come close to matching.

Paris Saint-Germain are a side with the resources available to sign Nasri, but his standing in France has never been particularly high. He’s viewed by many there as having an unfavourable attitude, a player who cannot be trusted to deliver consistently and without fuss.

Valencia’s takeover, which was completed back in August, means they are likely to be in a position to afford the likes of Nasri, and often newly cash-rich clubs look to lure stars who are unsettled elsewhere. City themselves were in the very same position back in 2008 when Sheikh Mansour became owner.

A move to a club outside of the Champions League would be unlikely given his wage demands. Clearly, he would have to accept a pay cut to do so, which very few footballers are ever keen to do when they have a long contract already in place. 

If he were to leave the Etihad this summer, City would unquestionably be losing a very talented player. Nasri, at his best, is one of the club’s finest in terms of his technical quality and ability to keep the ball.

He’s proven many times he can perform superbly in this side. Even this season, during City's run of decent form in December, he emerged as one of the stars of the side, with man-of-the-match displays against Everton and Roma particularly impressive. 

But his stock has fallen rapidly in recent weeks, and he faces an uncertain future. There is likely to be a desire from the club to move him on as part of their reshaping of the first-team squad, but the pool of teams in a position to take him is probably a small one. 

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.