West Ham defender Pablo Zabaleta has admitted that it will be interesting to face Manchester City in a pre-season friendly in August.
The two Premier League sides will face off in a friendly encounter on August 4 in Iceland, with the 2017/18 season kicking off the week after.
Zabaleta is expected to feature in that encounter after he moved to the London Stadium this summer after his contract at City expired.
The 32-year-old was a stalwart at the Manchester club, winning two Premier League titles and making 333 appearances for the club.
This is what he had to say when it was announced that he will come up against his former club sooner rather than later.
“Of course, it will be interesting to face my former club, so soon after leaving,” Zabaleta told the club’s official website.
“But more importantly, I am looking forward to playing with my new team-mates, and it will be a great test for us one week before the start of the season.”
Added with the two Premier League titles, Zabaleta also won one FA Cup and two League Cups at the Etihad Stadium but in his final season, he was unable to help the club lift a trophy.
He now joins a West Ham side that struggled to perform during the recently concluded Premier League campaign with Slaven Bilic’s side finishing outside of the top ten.
Right-back Zabaleta will be hoping to add quality and experience to the club’s defensive backline that suffered a number of heavy defeats last term.
One of those matches included the Hammers losing 5-0 at home to City during the 3rd round of the FA Cup with Zabaleta playing the full match.