Guardiola taking revenge against Yaya Toure, claims agent

Yaya Toure’s agent claims Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is freezing out the Ivorian midfielder to exact revenge.

Toure has only made one appearance for City this season – in a Champions League play-off in August – and Guardiola has vowed not to play the 33-year-old again unless he apologises for critical comments made by Dimitri Seluk.

Seluk angered Guardiola after hitting out at the Spaniard following his “humiliating” decision to omit Toure from City’s Champions League squad.

An apology from Seluk, however, is not forthcoming, with the outspoken agent insisting the issue stems from him criticising then-Barcelona boss Guardiola for selling Toure to City in 2010.

“I know what his problem is,” Seluk told the Mirror. “When Pep forced Yaya out of Barcelona I criticised him.

“This is his revenge. And it is personal, not professional. I asked City in the summer if they wanted Yaya to leave and was told that he was part of the plan.”

“When Yaya was left out of the Champions League squad, I called Pep. I wanted to ask him his reasons, but he didn’t call me back,” Seluk continued.

“I also tried to call Txiki – but he didn’t call me back either. So I don’t think the club can criticise me for doing an interview in the newspaper when they wouldn’t even talk to me.

“Pep talks about respect. But to get respect you have to show it.Before City played at the Nou Camp, I called Pep again. I wanted to ask him if we could meet for talks while he was in Barcelona.

“I also called Txiki. But nothing came back. I sent them texts also, but again there was nothing back. I have the phone records to prove this.”

Seluk added: “I was not making contact to apologise – but neither Pep or Txiki knew this. Why should I apologise when I am guilty of nothing but telling the truth?

“My idea was to talk man-to-man, to find out how we can move things forward for the best interests of Manchester City and Yaya. All I got was silence. So it must be clear to everyone that Pep isn’t looking for an apology.

“It is about him turning Sheikh Mansour and the City fans against a player who loves the club.

“Pep is allowing his ego to make decisions that aren’t in the best interests of Manchester City.”