“The Manchester City legend said the coach treated him like dirt during their time together.”, — write: football.ua
The Manchester City legend said the coach treated him like dirt during their time together.
Yaya Toure Josep Guardiola Getty Images 04 December 2025, 23:23
Toure, who worked under Guardiola at Barcelona and Man City, said the manager was never honest with him.
“I don’t see a man in him, I see a snake,” said Toure.
He recalled the moment Guardiola tried to bring him back to Barcelona after the player’s successful 2010 World Cup, despite ignoring him throughout the season.
According to the footballer, it was his wife Zineba who was the catalyst for his final decision to leave Catalonia and move to Manchester.
“Pep calls me and says, ‘You have to come back, it’s important.’ And my wife says, ‘Are you really going to listen to this nonsense? He treated you like dirt and now he wants you to stay? We went to Manchester,” Toure shared his memories.
He added that his wife also had a very negative opinion of Guardiola, calling him a devil.
The strained relationship between the two iconic football figures has spanned more than a decade. Guardiola sold Toure from Barcelona in 2010, and then, after taking charge of Man City in 2016, relegated the veteran to the background.
Toure has repeatedly accused the coach of bias, particularly towards African players, although he later tried to apologize for some of his harsh comments.