I never spoke to Guardiola – Raiola rubbishes Pogba talk

Mino Raiola has denied offering Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola during the January transfer window.

Ahead of Saturday’s derby the Catalan claimed Raiola had given City the chance to take two of his most high-profile clients from rivals Manchester United.

“Two months ago [he] offered me Mkhitaryan and Pogba to play with us,” Guardiola told a media conference on Friday.

It came as a surprise given a frosty relationship between the pair that is said to be down to Raiola believing Guardiola forced Zlatan Ibrahimovic out of Barcelona in 2010.

But Raiola has denied having any contact with the City boss over either Pogba or Mkhitaryan.

“I never spoke to Pep Guardiola,” he told BBC Sport. “I would not speak to him about players; I would speak to Manchester City.

“They are a fantastic club with a fantastic manager.”

A deal for Pogba would have been a huge shock midway through the Premier League season, particularly with the latter having set United back £89million in August 2016, which was then a world record.

Mkhitaryan left for Arsenal in a swap for Alexis Sanchez in January.