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Legendary Coach Pep Guardiola Accused of Being 'Cruel' to African Players

Former Manchester City midfielder and Ivory Coast national player Yaya Toure has accused Pep Guardiola of racism, saying that the Man City boss treated him "cruelly."
Sputnik

In an interview with the magazine France Football, the four-time winner of the African Footballer of the Year title has accused Guardiola of “having problems with African players” and blamed Guardiola for both of his short-lived spells at his clubs — Man City and Barcelona.

"He was cruel with me. Do you really think he could've been like that with Andres Iniesta? It got to the point I asked myself if it was because of my color. I'm not the first, other Barca players asked the question too," Toure said.

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Toure had spent eight years at Man City, joining from Barcelona in 2010 when Guardiola, who at the time was in charge at Nou Camp, decided to sell him.

He also claims that he is not the only African player who has suspected Guardiola of unfair treatment, suggesting that there have been several who felt that way while he was playing in Spain.

“I want to be the one who breaks the Guardiola myth,” Toure said. 

He went on to say that he felt that he was dealing with someone who just wanted revenge on him. 

“I do not know why, but I have the impression that he was jealous of me, that he took me for a rival. There you have it. We always looked at each other weirdly. It was as though I made him a little nervous,” Toure said.

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According to Toure, Guardiola likes to dominate his players and wants only “obedient players licking their hands.” However, Toure did not like that kind of relationship, which felt to him like ownership.

So far, following the revelation by Toure, neither Guardiola nor a Man City spokesperson has left a comment.

Social media users took to Twitter to react to Toure’s accusations.

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