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"He must apologise. If he doesn't, he won't play": Guardiola's ultimatum to Toure

20th September, 2016
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Yaya Toure will not play for Manchester City again until he apologises to the Premier League club for comments made by his agent, says manager Pep Guardiola.

The 33-year-old Ivory Coast midfielder’s agent Dimitri Seluk had said Toure felt “humiliated” by Guardiola after being left out of City’s Champions League squad.

“He must apologise. If he doesn’t, he won’t play,” Guardiola said on Tuesday.

“It was difficult to leave him out of the Champions League squad but (the) day after, his (agent) went to the media. (Toure) has not had the courage to call me. From that moment he was out.”

Toure, four-times African Footballer of the Year, has been a mainstay of City’s midfield since joining from Guardiola’s Barcelona in 2010.

He has only played once this season, in the second leg of a Champions League playoff tie against Steaua Bucharest when City had a 5-0 lead from the first game.

Guardiola and Toure also clashed at Barcelona, with the player saying in a 2011 interview that he felt forced out.

“He pretty much ignored me until City’s offer came in. That’s why I eventually opted to leave. I didn’t speak to Guardiola for a year,” Toure said at the time.

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“I did not want to go and wanted to end my career at Barcelona. However, he had no faith in me.”

Guardiola subsequently disputed the player’s version of events and said he had tried to convince him to stay.

Toure, who has a year left on his City contract but had been tipped to leave after Guardiola joined from Bayern Munich in the close season, had announced earlier on Tuesday his retirement from international football.

Toure scored 19 goals in more than 100 appearances for Ivory Coast and captained his country to their first African Nations Cup win for 23 years in 2015.

City play Swansea City in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday.

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