Celtic new boy Olivier Ntcham has insisted that he was desperate to leave Manchester City permanently in the summer as he knew if he had stayed he would simply be loaned out again.
The 21-year-old, who joined Manchester City’s academy from Le Havre in 2012, was snapped up by Celtic on a four-year deal in July.
During his time at Manchester City, Ntcham failed to make even a single senior appearance for the English giants, who loaned him to Genoa for two years from 2015.
The midfielder featured heavily for Genoa and made 41 appearances for the Italian outfit, scoring three times and providing two goals.
But Ntcham explained that he did not wish to stay at Genoa or return to Manchester City as he knew the Citizens would have sent him on another loan deal.
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As a result, the youngster was keen to quit the Etihad Stadium permanently during the summer transfer window in order to stabilise his career.
“No, I did not have a discussion with [Pep] Guardiola”, he said in an interview with French outlet So Foot, when asked if he had any discussions with the Manchester City boss after returning to the club upon the expiration of his loan deal with Genoa.
“I did not want to stay in Genoa and I did not want to go back to Manchester City.
“I knew that if I returned to City, they would loan me again.
“I really wanted to find stability in my life and in my career.”
Ntcham has thus far clocked up 593 minutes over nine appearances in all competitions for Celtic, netting twice.
