Manchester City's Jesus Navas aims to leave Premier League rivals reeling

MANCHESTER CITY new boy Jesus Navas has revealed he turned down the chance to join Arsenal three years ago.

Jesus Navas training with City yesterday

And now he is ready to show Arsene Wenger what he missed by lighting up the Premier League and helping City recapture the title.

Manuel Pellegrini has paid Seville £16m to add Navas' speedy wing play to a team that badly needed pace and width.

But the Spain international says he could already have been playing in England if he had accepted an offer from Wenger following the World Cup in 2010.

He turned down the move then because Seville were riding high in La Liga, had qualified for the Champions League three years on the bounce, and just won the Spanish Cup.

And he was still fighting to overcome the anxiety problems that dogged his early career and made him homesick whenever he was away from his family.

As he launched City's new black away kit here in Hong Kong, a relaxed Navas said: "At that time, I was still winning and achieving things at Seville and therefore it wasn't the right time to move.

"My time at Seville was great but we haven't won anything for two or three years and I feel now is the right time to move on. I am ambitious to win things. I always demand 100 per cent from myself so for that reason it was the right time to go."

Navas, 26, has overcome the anxiety attacks that also played a part in his decision to turn down the Gunners.

"It was a few years ago now," he added.

"It's all in the past and I've moved on.

Otherwise I wouldn't be here now. I have a wife and young baby now and having them in England will help me settle."

Navas will certainly feel quite at home at the Etihad Stadium thanks to City's ever-growing Spanish-speaking contingent.

Alvaro Negredo has followed him from Seville this summer while fellow Spaniards David Silva and Javi Garcia are already they along with Argentine pair Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta, who both have had spells in La Liga.

The new boys Negredo, Jovetic and Navas pose together

“We want to try to recreate the partnership we had at Seville, with me making the goals and Negredo scoring them”

Jesus Navas

Then there is Chilean boss Pellegrini while the club's chief executive, Ferran Soriano, and sporting director Txiki Begiristain, are both former Barcelona directors.

"It's going to make the transition easier," he said. "Obviously I'm very pleased to see Negredo follow me to City.

"We have played together for years at Seville so we know each other's game very well. But not only do we have a good relationship on the pitch, we have a good one off it.

"We want to try to recreate the partnership we had at Seville, with me making the goals and Negredo scoring them, but really it's a team effort. It will be down to all of us if we are going to be successful.

"My team-mates will help a lot with settling in England but this is something I really want. I'm here to play football and achieve really big things. So that is driving me to adapt here to the football and the culture. I plan to learn the language quickly.

"I'm ready for this. It's an exciting time to be joining City and I'm confident we will enjoy the season.

"The Spanish influence in the team can be very important but it's not all about that. Everyone in the squad worked together - there are many great players here and if it all comes together we can do great things."

Navas' spell at Seville afforded him a close-up view of Pellegrini as he forged a glowing managerial reputation by guiding unfashionable Villarreal and then Malaga into the latter stages of the Champions League.

"I've got a lot of respect for Pellegrini," he said. "He has a lot of experience as a manager. He managed to win a lot of games at Villarreal and Malaga with quite limited resources. His coaching style fits with me very well so I'm delighted to get the chance to play for him."

The Premier League's defensive hardmen might relish the prospect of leaving their calling card on the slightly-built Navas but he is ready for the more robust challenge of the English game - and even claims it will suit him.

"From day one that was one of the main things that attracted me to the Premier League - the speed and the high tempo nature of the game here. I will be naturally suited to it," he said.

"I believe my main quality is my speed and that can help to open games up. That's what I'm good at. And hopefully I can help set up goals like I did at Seville.

"It is a big challenge but I have a lot of experience. I've played a lot of big games for Seville and Spain. Hopefully that is going to help me embrace the challenge here."