Keeper has been tracked by a whole host of heavyweight clubs recently.
Highly rated Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has revealed that he was on the verge of joining mega-rich Premier League outfit Manchester City last summer, only for the deal to fall through at the very last minute, however, the Bosnian has still not given up all hope of moving to Eastlands at the end of this season though, according to reports in the Metro.
The in-demand Bosnia and Herzegovina international has been closely monitored by a number of big-name Premier League clubs of late, including the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and champions Manchester United too.
However, according to Begovic, the shot stopper was all set to sign for City at the end of the previous campaign to take over in goal in the north west from England international Joe Hart, that is before head coach Roberto Mancini was surprisingly given the sack following the Blues’ shock 1-0 loss to Wigan Athletic in May’s FA Cup final at Wembley.
And as a result of the Italian’s departure from the club, with Manuel Pellegrini coming in to replace Mancini in the dugout, City then decided to pull the plug on Begovic’s proposed transfer to the big-spending top-flight side.
“As players we are the last to find out things, probably our agents and club officials find out first without talking to us, then at the latter stage of negotiations they will tell us,” Begovic said.
“As for Manchester City, when Mancini was on the bench, we were very close to an agreement.
“The transfer was not realised due to several reasons, but the main one was the departure of the Italian manager.
“Could I still move to City? I really don’t know if negotiations between clubs are still ongoing.
“But for me probably the best thing would be to stay at Stoke until the end of the season as in that way I would be truly ready for World Cup in Brazil.”