LONDON, United Kingdom, Sep 20 – Yaya Toure’s agent has reacted to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola’s demands for an apology by declaring he can say anything he pleases.
Guardiola insisted on Tuesday that Toure would not play for the club until he apologised for comments made by Dimitri Seluk, who claimed his client was being humiliated by the Spaniard after being omitted from his Champions League squad.
The 33-year-old midfielder has been frozen out at City, having made just one appearance in all competitions this season and was also left out of the matchday party for their seven other matches.
But Seluk responded to Guardiola by saying the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach should apologise to Manuel Pellegrini and Joe Hart for bringing an end to their careers at the Etihad Stadium.
“What do I need to apologise for?” the Russian told Sky Sports. “Guardiola wins a few games and he thinks he is king. I live in Europe so I can say whatever I like and Guardiola can’t stop me.
“OK, I will apologise to Guardiola if he will apologise to Pellegrini for what he did to him. If you are a gentleman, this just does not happen. Pellegrini signed a new contract last year and then he gets pushed out for Guardiola to come in. Pellegrini was a gentleman.
“Guardiola also needs to apologise to Joe Hart. It is not normal and it is not right to come to England and to get rid of the few English players. When you come to a country you must respect the country and respect its people.
“When Yaya went to Man City, they could only dream about the Champions League. The biggest stars in Europe did not want to come to City, but Yaya came. They weren’t a big club. After he arrives they started winning; two league titles, cups and now the semis of the Champions League.
“I want Man City to win everything; to win all their games because it means more trophies for Yaya. City have great players, but Guardiola wants a new future for Yaya, for Hart. And they won’t be the last.
“I respect managers like Claudio Ranieri who achieve without spending so much money on players.”