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Pep: Toure won’t play until agent apologizes
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YAYA Toure retired from international football with the Ivory Coast yesterday — and won’t be playing again for Manchester City either unless his agent apologizes for comments about club coach Pep Guardiola.
The midfielder’s representative, Dimitri Seluk, recently said Guardiola humiliated his client by leaving him out of City’s squad for the UEFA Champions League group stage. That irritated Guardiola, who said that since then “Yaya is out”.
“I accept if Mr Dimitri Seluk came in a press conference or (spoke to) his friends in the media — because he has not the courage to call me — and apologized to Manchester City, his teammates, and the trainer,” Guardiola said.
“When that happens, Yaya will be part of the group and he will have the same chance to play all the games.”
Until then, the 33-year-old won’t be adding to his one appearance this season, a virtually dead match in the UCL playoffs. He didn’t even make the substitutes’ bench for City’s other seven matches.
An integral part of City’s team since signing for the English club in 2010, Toure struggled for form last season and isn’t deemed fit enough to play City’s high-energy pressing game in Guardiola’s first season at Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola previously coached Toure at Barcelona, and sold him to City.
Now City coach, Guardiola has shown he is not afraid of taking on big personalities at the club, having also sent longtime goalkeeper Joe Hart on loan to Torino.
“I cannot imagine in my period when I was a football player (at Barcelona), my (agent) going to the media and speaking against (former Barca coach) Johan Cruyff, about this and about that,” Guardiola said. “Maybe it’s a new era now, the new period changing, but I’m an old guy. I am old generation, and (an) old-generation manager has to make his players his job and trainers his job.”
Hours before Guardiola spoke out, Toure announced in a statement on his Twitter page that he would no longer play for Ivory Coast.
He played 113 times for his country, captaining the Ivorians to the Africa Cup of Nations title last year.
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