Guardiola insisted that Seluk must say sorry for his comments, although the club later indicated that the manager wants an apology from Toure.
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Earlier this month Toure’s agent Dimitri Seluk demanded an apology from Guardiola for “humiliating” his client, but the Spaniard said on Tuesday he would not select the player until it was he who received an apology.
Guardiola, however, has not taken kindly to the comments, and said on the eve of City’s League Cup clash with Swansea City that Toure will play no part, and that he can expect to be left out until the Toure camp reaches out to the City boss and his players to make amends.
Seluk also said Guardiola should apologize to the midfielder if City did not win the competition without Toure.
‘If he 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.
Seluk complained in 2014 that City showed Toure a lack of respect by not giving him a birthday cake.
“Today, agents believe they are more than they are”.
The news of Pep’s reasoning for axing Toue comes on the same day the Ivorian announced his worldwide retirement in an emotional farewell letter.
“A manager has to do his job”.
“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”.
“I know him, he is a good guy”.
I can not 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.
Guardiola was later asked about the decision to exclude Toure, and he simply replied: “It depends on Dmitri Seluk”.
“It was so hard for me to put him out in the Champions League”, Guardiola said. “Until he doesn’t speak, Yaya is not going to play”.
Guardiola subsequently disputed the player’s version of events and said he had tried to convince him to stay.
He said the decision was not to do with his age, the intensity of training or number of games.
“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 Ivory Coast”.
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Toure has recovered from a migraine that made him unavailable for Saturday’s 4-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth, but he will not be considered for Wednesday’s League Cup tie at Swansea City. “I would like to say solemnly that I am stopping!”
