Yaya Toure
The Man City outcast has reportedly instructed agent Dimitri Seluk to end his feud with Pep Guardiola and salvage his Manchester City career.
Yaya Toure in action during the EPL match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on January 3, 2012 in Manchester, England.
The representative of the Ivory Coast international midfielder says that the manager has not been returning his calls but is eager to find a solution to the standoff.
Toure, 33, has only featured once competitively during Guardiola’s reign at the Etihad Stadium to date, playing 90 minutes in the second leg of the Champions League play-off victory over Steaua Bucharest.
The former Ivory Coast international was then left out of Guardiola’s squad for the competition proper, prompting outspoken and sustained criticism from Seluk that has left his client ostracised in the absence of any apology.
Last weekend, Seluk launched aimed his latest barb at the coach who oversaw Toure’s move to City when he was in charge of Barcelona – claiming Guardiola was motivated by revenge.
The City boss explicitly refused to address the issue ahead of Tuesday’s 3-1 Champions League win over Barca but, in an interview with the
Daily Mirror, Seluk claims to have had a change of heart at Toure’s request.
“I have spoken to Yaya in the last few days and he has asked me to make the peace with Pep,” said Seluk.
“I agreed with him that I had to do what I could to make the situation better, because Yaya and Manchester City have been caught in the crossfire. I am genuine in what I say.
“Some City fans have contacted Yaya to say that a way forward must be found. And some of Yaya’s team-mates at City have also contacted me to say the same thing.
“I am not an unreasonable man. I don’t think that Pep will ever love me, but the most important thing is that we try to forgive what has happened in the past and develop a new relationship.
“This is a genuine gesture. I hope Pep accepts that my hope is that we can start with a clean page.”
Seluk went on to claim Guardiola has spurned initial approaches for dialogue over the situation and insisted his days of criticising the ex-Bayern Munich boss in public are over.
“Of course, I hope Pep takes the decision to bring Yaya back into his squad. But even if he doesn’t, I can assure him that I am not going to speak about him any more in the media,” he added.
“I have contacted the Mirror to send this message to Pep because he hasn’t returned my calls. But I also wanted to say these words in public because I felt it was important that it was me who make the first step towards peace, respect and friendship.
“I really do hope this can be a new start and that Yaya can help Manchester City to win more trophies.”
Since joining Manchester City in 2010, Toure has won two Premier League titles, scored goals in the respective FA Cup and League Cup triumphs of 2011 and 2014, before netting the decisive penalty as his club regained the latter trophy in a shootout win over Liverpool at Wembley earlier this year.
Following their midweek heroics, City host Middlesbrough on Saturday as they aim to preserve top spot in the Premier League.
