Arsenal star Samir Nasri says growing up as the 'new Zinedine Zidane' was difficult for him.
Nasri admits it was one of the reasons why he had to leave Marseille.
"It was tough," he told the Daily Mail. "In France, after Platini, they were always looking for the new Platini, and then it was the same with Zidane.
"When I started playing for Marseille, at 17, the journalists said I was the new Zidane. Like me, he was from Marseille and, like me, his background was in Algeria. But it meant the expectation was too high, and it was not a great comparison because we are very different players."
Nasri nevertheless coped with the expectation, became something of a star and, by his own admission, got a bit carried away with himself.
"The problem, when things go that well for you at a young age, is that you can get a big head," he says. "In the end that was why I probably needed to move away from Marseille.
"It was too easy for me there. I was from there. My family was there. I was still staying with my parents in their flat when I was playing in the first team. Everyone loved me there, and I needed to get away; to live alone and become a man.
"I needed another challenge but I also needed to mature. Moving to London, and I love London, has helped me to grow up."
