‘I don’t see a man, I see a snake’: Manchester City legend Yaya Toure re-opens his feud with Pep Guardiola

Manchester City and Ivory Coast icon, Yaya Toure has sensationally reopened his bitter feud with his former coach,  Pep Guardiola, labelling the legendary manager a ‘snake’. 

Toure and Guardiola have had a strained relationship ever since the ex-Barcelona manager offloaded the star midfielder to Manchester City in 2010, shortly after elevating Sergio Busquets from the club’s B team.

Guardiola saw Busquets as a better fit in the holding midfield role in his fabled 4-3-3 system. Toure completed 90 minutes on just nine occasions in his final season at the Nou Camp, before enjoying a glittering eight-year spell at the Etihad. 

The pair met again in 2016 when Guardiola was recruited by City’s hierarchy and he once more relegated Toure to a bit-part role, leading to the player’s agent, Dimitri Seluk, speaking out publicly against the coach. 

Seluk later apologised for those comments, which did little to encourage Guardiola to give Toure a second chance, and he left the club in May 2018.

Now, Toure, 42, has reopened his bitter feud with Guardiola.  

Appearing on the ZACK YouTube channel, Toure described his former coach as a ‘snake’. 

‘I don’t see a man, I see a snake,’ he said.

‘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”.

‘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.’

Toure enjoyed a glittering career with Barcelona and Manchester City, winning three Premier Leagues, two LaLigas, a Champions League, and five domestic cup trophies.

The midfielder was also named African Footballer of the Year for four successive seasons from 2011 to 2014, winning the Africa Cup on Nations in 2015.