Former Ivorian national team captain and Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has offered his apologies to his club and his coach Pep Guardiola for what he called “misunderstandings from the past.” Goal reports that Toure finally apologized to Guardiola via a post on his Facebook page on Friday morning, just hours before the coach was to give his weekly pre-match press conference.
Toure has been frozen out of the team’s lineup all season for comments made in the press by his agent Dimitri Seluk.
In September, Guardiola’s decision to leave Toure off of Man City’s UEFA Champions League lineup infuriated Seluk. He was quoted in an interview with British tabloid, the Mirror saying, “I hope that Pep has the balls to say he was wrong to humiliate a great player like Yaya Toure.”
Guardiola responded, saying, “Seluk must apologise. If he doesn’t, [Toure] won’t play. A manager has to do his job. If he has a problem, he should speak to people at the club.”
Following Toure’s public apology, Guardiola told reporters, “I spoke with Yaya this morning, so of course it’s a private conversation. I know what he says and it is so important for Manchester City. That’s the most important thing, and for Yaya as well. It’s good.”
He however refused to say if he would select the 4-time African Footballer of the Year for Saturday’s premiership game against Middlesbrough FC.
