Pep Guardiola has revealed that he will not select Yaya Toure to represent Manchester City unless Toure’s agent apologises. Toure has featured in only one game for his club this season, UEFA Champions League qualifiers against Steaua Bucuresti.
Pep Guardiola has left the Ivorian out of the Champions League squad and has not played him in a single game in the Premier League. “It was so difficult for me to leave him out of the Champions League. So difficult. I know him and I know he's a good guy,” said Guardiola in a press conference on Tuesday.
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Guardiola then went on to say that the former Barcelona player will feature for Manchester City only after his agent apologised to the club, the players, and the coaches.
Toure will return once his agent apologises – Guardiola
“The day after his agent spoke and in that moment [I decided that] Yaya is out. Unless Mr. Dimitri Seluk comes back in the press or speaks to his friends in the media - because he hasn't the courage to call me - and apologise to Manchester City first of all, then his teammates, and afterwards the trainer.”
“When that happens, Yaya [Toure] will be part of the group and he will have the chance to play. I cannot accept as a coach every agent when his player doesn't play he goes to the media and speaks. It depends.”
The former Barcelona manager continued, “I know how much Dimitri Seluk loves Yaya Toure. If he loves him, show me by apologising to Manchester City for what he did in the papers. I cannot imagine in my day when a player's agent would go to the media and speak against Johan Cruyff.”
“Maybe it's the new era, but I'm [from the] old generation, and an old generation, where an agent has to make his players his job and the coach his job. Today, agents believe they are more than they are. If he has a problem call Txiki Begiristain, the club, and they can talk. Until he speaks, Yaya is not going to play.”
Guardiola criticised by Toure’s agent
Yaya Toure's agent has criticised Pep Guardiola ever since the Spaniard was named as Manuel Pellegrini's successor. The former Bayern Munich manager had previously worked with Yaya Toure before at Barcelona and the two did not seem to have a good relationship .
Earlier this month, Yaya Toure's agent was frustrated that his client was left out of the Champions League squad and hit out at Guardiola, “If Guardiola wins the Champions League for City this season then I will travel to England and I will say on television that Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world. But if City don’t win the Champions League then I hope that Pep has got the balls to say that he was wrong to humiliate a great player like Yaya.”
“Yaya is a professional and so he will do everything he is asked to do. What I can tell you is that Yaya will spend the season at City. He will not be leaving in January. He hopes that he will get the chance to prove himself.”
Yaya Toure was expected to leave Manchester City in the summer, and despite being heavily linked with Inter Milan and Paris Saint-German, the big Ivorian decided to stay at Manchester City.
