Guardiola confirms Aleksandar Kolarov is close to joining Roma

Manchester City are set to lose another full-back after manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that Serbian defender Aleksandar Kolarov will join Roma next season.

The 31-year-old missed Manchester City's pre-season match with Manchester United in the International Champions Cup, in which they lost 2-0.

Guardiola confirmed that Kolarov, who still has a year left on his contract, wants to leave for Italian side Roma in the post-match conference, saying: "Kolarov is one step [closer] to go to Roma."

"I don't like to work with people who don't want to stay. Kola helped me a lot last season in terms of many, many things. But he had a big chance to go back to Rome where he was before and he spoke to me, the club and asked me to leave."

Guardiola ended off by paying tribute to the Serb's professionalism, saying: "It's the best option for everybody. I wish him all the best because he's a really nice guy. We had an excellent relationship. I was very pleased to train him and I wish him and his family the best." 

Kolarov joined City from Roma's fierce rivals Lazio for £16 million in 2010 and went on to make 243 appearances for the club, scoring 21 goals and assisting 22 times. He is expected to join Roma for a fee of £8.75 million. 

The departure of Kolarov leaves City in a bad situation as he becomes the fourth full-back to leave the club including Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, and Bacary Sagna. Guardiola has only brought in Kyle Walker from Spurs and will now be desperate to bring in more new faces in the full-back position in what is turning out to be a difficult summer window.