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| Yaya Toure has only played once for Manchester City this season Getty Images |
Yaya Toure will not play
for Manchester City again until his agent apologizes for recent remarks in the
media, manager Pep Guardiola has said.
Press
Association report continues:
Toure's
representative, Dimitri Seluk, recently suggested Guardiola had humiliated the
midfielder by leaving him out of City's Champions League squad.
The
Côte d'Ivoire star has appeared in just one of City's eight games this season -
not even making the bench for the other seven - and it was assumed this was
because he did not feature in Guardiola's plans.
But
now Guardiola has revealed there is more to it, with the Spaniard angered by
the latest of Seluk's frequent comments to the press.
Guardiola
said: "It was so difficult for me to put him out of the Champions League,
so difficult. I know him, I know he's a good, good guy - but the list is the
list.
"But
the day after, his manager (agent) spoke. In that moment 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 team-mates and the trainer, when that happens Yaya will be
part of the group and he will have the same chance to play all the games.
"I
cannot accept as a coach, every manager when his player doesn't play, going to
the media to speak and speak and speak."
Seluk
has a long history of making controversial remarks concerning his client - most
notoriously in 2014 when he claimed the club showed Toure a lack of respect on
his 31st birthday, not even giving him a cake.
But
now it seems Guardiola, who previously coached Toure at Barcelona, is not
prepared to accept the situation.
Guardiola
said: "I cannot imagine, in my period when I was a football player, my
manager going to the media and speaking against Johan Cruyff, about this and
about that.
"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.
"Today
the managers (agents) believe they are more than they are. If he has a problem
call (director of football) Txiki Begiristain, the club, and they can talk.
Until he doesn't speak, Yaya is not going to play."
Guardiola
was speaking at a press conference to preview Wednesday's EPL Cup third-round
tie at Swansea.
It
had been assumed 33-year-old Toure, who missed training last week with a
migraine, would come back into the reckoning for the game after Guardiola
admitted he will make changes.
"We
are going to play some guys who didn't play lately," he said.
But
it is now clear that captain Vincent Kompany is the only senior figure likely
to come in after recovering from the thigh injury - the latest in a long line
of muscle problems - that has sidelined him since May.
Guardiola
said: "Kompany has a chance. He has trained a lot and he will be ready and
be part of the group and compete with other central defenders to win his
position. We have a lot of games and we need him."
Guardiola's
revelation about Toure came on the same day the player announced his retirement
from international football with the Côte d'Ivoire.
Toure,
captain of the side that won the 2015 African Nations Cup, wrote in a
statement: "Writing this note was probably 'the most difficult match of my
life'. After 14 years at the highest level, I'm sure this is the right time for
me!
"The
fact that I am 33 now, the intensity of training and the multitude of games are
not the reasons why I am making this decision.
"Football
is everything to me and it gave me so much in my career that I no longer feel
able to set myself new goals as a player with the Elephants of Côte d'Ivoire. I
would like to say solemnly that I am stopping!"
Toure 'Must Apologize'
Before Guardiola Will Pick Him
BBC
Sport reports that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he will not
pick Côte d'Ivoire midfielder Yaya Toure again until he apologizes to the
club and his team-mates for comments made by his agent.
Toure,
33, has made one appearance for City this season and was left out of their
Champions League squad by Guardiola earlier this month.
Afterwards,
Toure's agent, Dimitri Seluk, said the midfielder had been
"humiliated" by Guardiola's decision and that if City did not win the
Champions League, the former Barcelona manager should "have the
balls" to apologize to the midfielder.
"He
must apologize to his team-mates. He must apologize to the club," said
Guardiola. "If he doesn't, he won't play."
Toure was a mainstay of the
City team until the arrival of Guardiola at the beginning of this season.
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