Yaya Toure’s agent Dimitri Seluk appears to be in the process of ensuring his client is sold by Manchester City next summer after a bizarre rant in which he raised questions over the coaching credentials of Pep Guardiola, who looks increasingly likely to get the job at the Etihad.
Seluk apparently has not forgotten that Guardiola sold Touré to Manchester City from Barcelona in 2010 for £24million in 2010 and he said that Guardiola’s reputation as the best coach in the world is a fallacy.
“Pep is a great coach. But he has won the title at Barcelona and Bayern Munich” said Seluk.
“The truth is that my grandfather would win the title with Barcelona and Bayern Munich because they are big clubs with great players.
“Look at Luis Enrique now. Last season he won the title and the Champions League with Barcelona.
“I’m not saying he isn’t a good coach, but look what he did at Roma. Nothing.
“I’d like to see Pep take a club that is eighth or ninth and make them champions.
“That’s why Roberto Mancini was the best manager City have had.
“Manuel Pellegrini is also a good coach who deserves credit, but Mancini built the team. He took a team that was nowhere and made them champions.”
Seluk added:
“In Germany, they say it is 100 per cent that Guardiola will be City’s manager and I believe it also.
“I don’t know what Guardiola’s plans are, but – after what happened at Barcelona – of course it is a worry that when he comes Yaya will be out.
“I hope not and Yaya hopes not.
“He has had offers to leave City, but he loves the club, he loves the fans and he loves the people of Manchester.
“Once Pep comes, there will be a lot more Spanish players arriving.
“They are trying to turn City into Barcelona when they should be creating their own identity.”
Toure was heavily linked with a move to Inter Milan last summer and his agent’s comments about Mancini indicate that he still thinks highly of the Inter boss.
It appears that Seluk is paving an exit strategy from City for his client, but his challenge will be finding anyone willing to meet Toure’s current wages of £1m-a-month. There are only a handful of teams in the world that can afford those sort of wages and Inter Milan is not one of them.
