Yaya Toure will not play again for Manchester City until the player’s camp apologises for comments made by his agent, manager Pep Guardiola vowed on Tuesday.
Dimitri Seluk accused the City manager of “humiliating” Toure, 33, by leaving him out of the club’s Champions League squad at the start of this month.
The Ivorian midfielder, who announced his retirement from international duty on Tuesday, has not featured in a single City match-day squad since then.
“The day after that, his agent spoke and in that moment, Yaya is out,” Guardiola told a press conference.
“Unless Mr Dimitri Seluk comes back to the press or to his friends in the media – because he hasn’t the courage to call me, he goes to the media – and apologises to Manchester City first of all, then his team-mates and afterwards the trainer…
“When that happens, Yaya will be part of the group and he will have the chance to play.”
While Guardiola said that Seluk should say sorry for his comments, the club later indicated the manager wanted an apology from Toure.
Toure has recovered from a migraine that made him unavailable for Saturday’s 4-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth, but he will not be considered for Wednesday’s League Cup tie at Swansea City.
Seluk had said: “If he (Guardiola) wins the Champions League for City this season, then I will travel to England and I will say on television that Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world.
“But if City don’t win the Champions League, then I hope that Pep has got the balls to say that he was wrong to humiliate a great player like Yaya.”
Toure, who is in the final year of his contract at the Etihad Stadium, has featured just once for City since Guardiola’s arrival.
