Tag: Yaya Toure

Yaya Toure gives in, apologizes to Pep Guardiola for agent’s comments

Guardiola claims arguably his biggest win of the week


Three days after beating Barcelona in the Champions League, Pep Guardiola notched what might be an even more impressive victory by getting an apology from Yaya Toure for the one-sided verbal war Toure’s agent has been waging on Guardiola for months now.

Back in September, Guardiola vowed to hold Toure’s career hostage until he apologized for agent Dimitri Seluk’s barrage of insults and he’s done exactly that. Toure hasn’t played a minute for Manchester City since before that day.

https://whatahowler.com/pep-guardiola-is-wrong-about-yaya-toures-agent-adfe8e7ac3bf

At the time, Seluk remained defiant, telling Sky Sports “What do I need to apologise for? Guardiola wins a few games and thinks he is a king. I live in Europe so I can say whatever I like and Guardiola can’t stop me.”

Forty five days later, Toure has decided to comply with Guardiola’s demand by issuing an apology on his official website. It reads:

“I wish to apologise — on behalf of myself and those who represent me — to the management team and all those working at the club for the misunderstandings from the past.

“Those statements do not represent my views on the club or the people who work there. I have nothing but respect for Manchester City and only wish the best for the football club.

“I am immensely proud to have played a part in the club’s history and want to help City succeed further. I live to play football and entertain the fans.

“On that note, I would like to thank all of the fans for their messages through this difficult period. This means a great deal to me and my family.”

It seems likely that Toure did this against Seluk’s advice, but at 33 years old and not getting any younger, his desire to play probably exceeded his desire to stand up for free speech. And after that performance against Barca, who wouldn’t want to play for City right now?

At his Friday press conference, Guardiola seemed pleased with his latest victory. From ESPN FC:

“I have spoken with Yaya today,” the City boss said. “Of course, it was a private conversation. I know what happened, what he said, of course.

“It’s good news for Manchester City — that’s the most important thing — and for Yaya, whom I appreciate. I have known him from a long time ago.”

We can also confirm that Toure presented Guardiola with this apology cake on behalf of his agent:


It seems unlikely that Toure will be able to keep Seluk quiet for more than a few hours, so this likely isn’t the end of this saga. Of course, there’s also the possibility that Toure only apologized so he could get his revenge against Guardiola by sabotaging the team on the pitch, but we’ll just have to wait and see about that.


Pep Guardiola holds Yaya Toure’s career hostage for an apology from his agent

Since Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City, he’s made it clear that Yaya Toure doesn’t factor into his plans. Toure’s only appearance under Guardiola this season was in a Champions League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest. But now Guardiola is suggesting that the 33-year-old midfielder will have a way back onto the pitch…if he produces an apology for his outspoken agent.

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Noel Gallagher predicted the exact outcome of the Capital One Cup final

Man City superfan and former member of Oasis Noel Gallagher can see the future. Prior to the Capital One Cup final between City and Liverpool, he was asked to give a prediction before heading into Wembley to watch the match. So he only went and foretold the exact result. A City win. On penalties. With Yaya Toure delivering the final blow.

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Yaya Toure upset someone other than Yaya Toure finally won African Player of the Year

Yaya Toure won the African Player of the Year award four years in a row and after winning the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast for the first time in 2015, he thought he was a lock to make it five in a row. But he didn’t. Instead, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his fabulous lapels became the first player from Gabon to claim the award for his incredible play with Borussia Dortmund.

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Man City players read mean tweets, make you feel kind of bad for them

In the latest installment of their video advent calendar, Man City had the questionable idea to make several of their own players read mean tweets about themselves in front of a camera. Eliaquim Mangala, Bacary Sagna, Fabian Delph, Vincent Kompany, and Yaya Toure were all subjected to what can only be a punishment for pissing off their superiors and their responses to the hate were so reasonable and nice that it makes the whole exercise far more awkward than funny.

No matter what you think of him as a player, by the end of this video you will want to give Mangala a hug and remove all the sharp things from his house.

To top it off, there’s a post-script to the video where Kompany talks about how much they love the haters, then pivots and says: “But there are some people who can’t deal with it and if you are one of those people, and you are a victim of cyber bullying, then let’s take this issue seriously…” Which sounds more like he’s putting down the people who “can’t deal with it” than offering them help. And no part of the video treated the issue seriously.

Anyway, happy holidays from Manchester City!

DTotD: Keylor Navas obliterates Yaya Toure during friendly

With Iker Casillas out of the picture, Keylor Navas is getting his chance as Real Madrid’s No. 1 and he’s going hard to prove himself. Perhaps a little too hard.

During Real’s friendly against Man City in Australia, Navas attacked the ball, but ended up smashing into Yaya Toure instead. He then landed on top of Sergio Ramos. He seems to have taken the Miley Cyrus song “Wrecking Ball” a bit too literally.

This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.