Manchester City icon Yaya Toure has spectacularly reignited his long-running and bitter feud with former manager Pep Guardiola, launching a fresh verbal assault in which he branded the Catalan coach "a snake".
The Explosive Interview
During a recent appearance on the ZACK YouTube channel, the 42-year-old Ivorian midfielder did not hold back. Recounting his time under Guardiola at Barcelona, Toure delivered a scathing assessment. "I don't see a man, I see a snake," he stated, revealing the depth of his lingering resentment.
Toure detailed a pivotal moment from 2010, when Guardiola, then Barcelona coach, urged him to stay at the club. "The Barcelona coach calls me back then and says, 'You have to come back, it's important,'" Toure recalled. However, his wife strongly advised against it, persuading him to join Manchester City instead. Toure quoted her as saying, "Are you going to listen to that nonsense? He treated you like dirt, and now he wants you to stay... Let's go to Manchester, my brother."
A History of Tension and Accusations
The frosty relationship between the player and manager is well-documented, spanning their time together at both Barcelona and Manchester City. Toure left the Nou Camp for City in 2010, only to be reunited with Guardiola when he took over at the Etihad in 2016.
After struggling for regular starts in his final two seasons and departing in 2018, Toure once accused Guardiola of having 'problems with Africans', though he later claimed he was misquoted and apologised in a letter.
This latest outburst is particularly striking given that, in a 2022 interview with The Times, Toure expressed a desire to end the feud, stating he wished to see Guardiola and talk football. He noted at the time that he hadn't been in touch because he didn't have his number.
Legacy Amidst the Conflict
The renewed attack comes despite the pair sharing significant success. Under Guardiola's management at City, Toure was part of the squad that won the Premier League title in 2017 and 2018. Since then, Guardiola has gone on to win a total of six Premier League crowns and the Champions League with the club.
At Barcelona, Guardiola often preferred Sergio Busquets in midfield, a decision that continues to rankle with Toure. His wife's perspective, as shared in the interview, remains damning: "Sheytan, he's not a man, he's wicked. She sees him as a negative person."
This explosive interview ensures that one of football's most personal and enduring managerial disputes is once again thrust into the spotlight, with old wounds reopened by Toure's incendiary choice of words.
