Anderlecht chief Peter Verbeke has detailed how Sergio Gomez stood in his office “in tears” when trying to push through his transfer to Manchester City.
The left-back joined the Blues for £11m in the summer when Pep Guardiola snuffed at the price tag being put on then-Brighton defender Marc Cucurella. He was brought in to fill the void left by Oleksandr Zinchenko who followed Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal.
Prior to Saturday's clash with Southampton, Gomez had played six times for City. He started the Champions League wins over Sevilla and Copenhagen and also bagged an assist in last weekend’s 6-3 win over Manchester United.
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Upon arriving in August at the Etihad, Gomez revealed he had been a lifelong City fan. “I was a City fan when I was a kid,” he explained.
“When we were kids, my brother used to support City. He’s the main reason I became a fan as well. Once he was on a school trip to London and I asked him to bring a David Silva shirt.”
Anderlecht CEO Verbeke’s comments, therefore, may come as less of a surprise. He explained how Gomez got very emotional when he implored the Belgian giants to grant him the move.
“Sergio Gomez is a story apart,” Verbeke told Het Laatste Niuews (via Sport Witness). “Actually, our intention was to sell (winger, Francis) Amuzu and keep Gomez, contractually it made the most sense.
“At some point it became clear that Gomez absolutely wanted to go to Manchester City, he was standing in my office in tears. Financially, we could also do a great business there.”
Gomez played 47 times under Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht before he was appointed Burnley boss.
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