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Frustrated Kolarov almost left Manchester City

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Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov has revealed that a lack of playing time under Roberto Mancini almost saw him to leave the club.

Earlier in March, Kolarov and City team-mate Samir Nasri took a swipe at their former manager Mancini and said they preferred working under his City successor, Manuel Pellegrini.

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Speaking to CityTV, Kolarov admitted life on the fringe of Mancini's starting XI took its toll and almost forced him to leave Manchester, with several Italian clubs waiting in the wings to bring the former Lazio player back to Serie A.

"Last season I was thinking, because I didn't play a lot, that maybe it was a good thing for me to move," Kolarov said. "I had a couple of opportunities, but in the end I refused everything because I didn't want to go from here.

"I hadn't shown the people what I can do. Now, this season, I think I have shown what I can do. For me it has been a victory, personally, for myself.

"If you play regularly you can improve a lot in every game. It is difficult if you play one and then don't play three, four games. Training is one thing, the game is one thing. Playing regularly you can improve a lot."

Kolarov was given a fresh chance by Pellegrini and has gone on to usurp Gael Clichy as the Chilean's first choice left-back this season. The Serb has thrived under Pellegrini's commitment to attacking football and insists City fans have seen the "real" him.

However, Kolarov stated he is still happy to share City's defensive duties with Clichy.

"We know that at this level you always have another player who is playing in your position. Until now the boss has rotated the team and I think we have done well," Kolarov said.

"Of course me and him [Clichy] want to play every game, but the boss makes his choice and we are professionals."

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