Manchester City's French defender Eliaquim Mangala has said he made the right decision by refusing the move to Spanish football club Valencia during the summer transfer market.
"I refused because it would have been a step backwards. I felt good enough to win my place," the 24-year-old French international said in a statement on Thursday quoted by Efe.
Mangala, who joined City in August 2014 from Porto for about 32 million pounds ($48.7 million), was close to moving to Valencia on loan as part of the deal for Argentine defender Nicolas Otamendi.
Mangala, who rejected the loan to the Bats, has started in the central defence of the team trained by Manuel Pellegrini in the four English Premier League (EPL) matches played so far with a remarkable performance with four wins and zero goals conceded.