Samir Nasri: Pep Guardiola told me 'no sex after midnight'

The France midfielder, 29, has been speaking about Guardiola on French TV, and revealed that the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach had his own ideas about how he could improve his performance levels on and off the pitch.

Claiming Pep's strict rules on his love life also worked on Lionel Messi, Nasri said: "For him, his players' sexual activity must take place before midnight in order to get a good night's sleep. Even if they are free tomorrow.

"He said that he placed this rule on (Lionel) Messi and his muscles improved since.”

Nasri is spending the season on loan at Jorge Sampaoli's Sevilla in La Liga after he opted against playing under Guardiola, who he claims told him a few home truths about his condition when he arrived at the club to succeed Manuel Pellegrini during the summer.

Guardiola apparently told Nasri he was overweight and that he had the ability to represent Barca if he knocked himself into shape.

“I’ll be honest, I fell in love with (Jorge) Sampaoli," said Nasri. "He’s a mix between Bielsa and Guardiola, with whom I was with in pre-season and he made me realise some things. Guardiola told me that I was a mess, he told me several times and even kicked me in the butt, literally.

“When I returned from holiday having had a year with injury problems and personal life problems, I was a little out of shape. Not as much as what was said but a few, four kilos overweight; For Guardiola, over 2.5 kilos and you do not you train with the group.”

“Guardiola told me with your qualities you should not be at Manchester City, you should be at Barcelona. We had some discussions, he wanted me to stay and play for him.

"I told him no, because he couldn’t assure me a first-team place, I wanted to play. He told me he thought I was making a mistake, but I still have a two-year contract."