West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini has said that he will make a decision on whether to offer former Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri a contract within the coming days.
Nasri began training with West Ham last month after serving an 18-month ban for violating the World Anti-Doping Code and Uefa’s doping regulations after he received 500 millilitres of sterile water containing nutrients while visiting a drip doctor in December 2016.
Reports indicate that West Ham will look to offer Nasri a six-month contract with an option for a longer deal with Pellegrini, who managed Nasri during their time together with Manchester City where they both won a Premier League title in 2014, set to make a decision on Nasri over the next few days.
“Samir is working with us very well, he is losing weight, his mentality is to try and have a spot here with the squad, so we will see in the next days,” Pellegrini said ahead of West Ham’s match with Watford this weekend.
Manuel Pellegrini says @WestHamUtd are likely to make a decision next week on signing Samir Nasri, who is getting his weight down and getting fitter pic.twitter.com/JnpOQnbKhq
— Ian Abrahams (Moose) (@BroadcastMoose) December 20, 2018
Nasri left City in 2016 to join Sevilla on a season long loan deal before moving on to Turkish side Antalyaspor on a two-year contract just over a year later.
With midfielder Jack Wilshere set to spend another month on the sidelines with an ankle injury, the chances of Nasri receiving a lifeline with the Hammers looks set to increase and Pellegrini stressed upon giving the French international a trial last month that West Ham needed to rediscover the real Samir.
“Samir Nasri is a very technical player who always made the difference playing as a midfielder when he is fit,” Pellegrini said.
“We are going to give him a hand to try to return. You have seen over the years what he can do. He was an important player not only for me and City but also for Arsenal. What we need is to recover the real Samir Nasri.”
