Yaya Toure and Pep have a long history of not getting along, the two began having issues while at Barcelona back in 2010. According to Toure, Pep was the main reason he left Barcelona since Pep didn’t like him and the only option he had was to leave the team, luckily he got a transfer offer from Manchester City. However, Pep denied the allegation citing he asked Toure to stay at the club but he wanted to leave.
Despite that, Toure revealed the two weren’t on good speaking terms during his final year with the La Liga giants and the environment at Barcelona wasn’t conducive enough for him. Toure left Barcelona in 2010 after two seasons with Pep and went on to earn his position in Manchester City’s squad became a regular starter.
In 2013 Pep left Barcelona to join Bayern Munich where he spent three seasons before landing in England as the new gaffer of Manchester City in 2016. Becoming the new manager of the team, he reunited with Yaya Toure who at the time had already established his name in the club.
According to Toure’s agent, Dimitri Seluk the first thing Pep did after he landed at Etihad was to pick a fight with Toure and Joe Hart who was Manchester City’s first-choice goalkeeper. Within no time Hart was out of the picture and Toure was told he had to earn his place in the team, problems that saw Toure leave the club in 2018 began at that point.
Yaya Toure Curse
Before the arrival of Pep Guardiola, Toure was among the key players in Manchester City’s squad and he has played in the second leg of the Championship League. Pep later restructured the squad and eliminated Tour from the squad without a valid reason.
As a result, Toure’s agent, Dimitri Seluk accused Pep of humiliating Toure by eliminating him from the squad. Following the incident, Dimitri went on to tell Pep if he has the “ball” he should apologize to Toure for disrespecting him.
Dimitri’s words didn’t sit well with Guardiola as he declined Toure an opportunity to play until his agent apologized. Toure later went on to make a return after he made a public apology on behalf of Dimitri, but things never went to normal.
In 2018, it was announced, Toure was leaving the club at the end of the season and this is where Toure’s agent went and placed an “African curse” on Guardiola for handling his client inappropriately.
In his statement, Seluk said,
He [Pep] turned all Africa against himself, many African fans turned away from Manchester City, And I’m sure that many African shamans in the future will not allow Guardiola to win the Champions League.
This will be for Guardiola an African curse. Life will show whether I am right or not. The fact that Guardiola ended Yaya’s career in Manchester City is not even a mistake, but a crime.
Following this statement, many club’s fans feel the Seluk words have been vindicated. Last season, Pep led a successful campaign and reached the final but they were mercilessly thrashed by Real Madrid. Currently, they are facing tough charges on financial fractions and many feel like the “curse” has taken a new phase.