MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, Sep 22- Dimitri Seluk’s bitter war of words with Pep Guardiola shows no sign of abating, with Yaya Toure’s agent now claiming the Spaniard had little to do with Barcelona’s success during his tenure.
Seluk has been embroiled in a very public, 24-hour row with the Manchester City manager after Guardiola demanded an apology from the Ukrainian for his recent comments about the club.
Toure’s long-standing representative, whose client has been sidelined under Guardiola and told he will not play for City again unless Seluk apologises, has added fuel to the flames by suggesting Barca’s domination of Spain and Europe was down to Frank Rijkaard and Lionel Messi – and not the current Etihad Stadium boss.
“The team he took at Barca had been built by Frank Rijkaard and then he was lucky to have Lionel Messi,” Seluk told the Daily Mirror.
“It was Messi who made Barca, not Pep. Luis Enrique has shown that Barca’s success was not down to Guardiola.”
Guardiola won three La Liga titles and two Champions League crowns during his time at the Nou Camp, and followed that with three consecutive Bundesliga victories in Bavaria, but Seluk questioned his pedigree.
“It was the same in Munich. He couldn’t fail. My grandfather could have won the league with that team. If Pep wants to prove himself as a great manager, then he should go to Zaragoza or Sunderland. Let’s see how good he is when he doesn’t take over a great team and hasn’t got half-a-billion pounds to spend.”
On Tuesday, Seluk declared his willingness to go to war with Guardiola over Toure’s treatment at City since the Spaniard arrived at the Etihad.
Previously, the Ukrainian has claimed his Ivorian client was ‘humiliated’ at being left out of the club’s Champions League squad, while Toure has only made one appearance under Guardiola – a second-leg clash with Steaua Bucharest in which the City coach blooded the likes of Pablo Maffeo, Tosin Adarabioyo and Angelino.
Furthermore, the four-time African Player of the Year was not included in the club’s team photograph, which was released on Tuesday.
While Toure was suffering from a migraine at the time the picture was taken, City’s decision to go ahead without him speaks volumes about the increasingly hostile stand-off between his agent and manager.
Seluk said: “Pep doesn’t want players with personality. He only wants players who are scared of him and will do what he says. The first thing he did when he arrived at City was to pick a fight with Yaya and Joe Hart, two of the club’s biggest players. They have both been big personalities in the dressing room at City and Guardiola doesn’t like that.”
The agent has called on the Spaniard to say sorry to goalkeeper Joe Hart and former City boss Manuel Pellegrini for his role in their Etihad exits but Guardiola is insistent on an apology.
-By DailyMail–