Yaya Toure has reopened his feud with manager Pep Guardiola, controversially labelling him a ‘snake’ on the ‘Zack en Roue Libre’ show. The Manchester City icon revisited their strained relationship, spanning their time together at both Barcelona and Manchester City.
The pair first worked together at Barcelona and later reunited at Manchester City in 2016. The midfielder’s relationship with Guardiola soured across both spells due to reduced playing time.
At Barcelona, Guardiola reportedly preferred Sergio Busquets as his holding midfielder, resulting in Touré completing 90 minutes just nine times in the 2009/10 season.
This situation was difficult for Touré to accept, leading him to join Manchester City in July 2010.
Touré, who departed the club in May 2018, did not hold back in revisiting the relationship.
“I don’t see a man, I see a snake,” he stated.
He also recalled an incident after the 2010 World Cup when his former coach attempted to call him back to Barcelona.
“The Barcelona coach calls me back then and says, ‘You have to come back, it’s important.’ My wife says to me, ‘Are you going to listen to that nonsense?’
He treated you like dirt, and now he wants you to stay, and you’re going to stay? Let’s go to Manchester, my brother,” Touré said.
Touré further revealed his wife’s strong distaste for the manager:
“The guy didn’t play me all year, and at the end of the year, I shine at the World Cup (2010), and he brings me to Barcelona.
My wife would tell me about him. ‘Sheytan, he’s not a man, he’s wicked,’ she sees him as a negative person.”