MANCHESTER: Yaya Toure has apologised on behalf of himself and his agent for early-season comments by the latter about Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola in the hope of being selected to play again.

Guardiola has refused to pick the midfielder since Seluk claimed Toure had been “humiliated” by his omission from the club’s Champions League squad early in September.

It was the latest in a series of contentious remarks from the Ukrainian and Guardiola insisted Seluk should apologise before he would consider 33-year-old Toure for selection again.

Toure has now taken the matter into his own hands in an attempt to resolve the situation.

In a statement published on Facebook, Toure said: “I wish to apologise – on behalf of myself and those who represent me – to the management team and all those working at the club for the misunderstandings from the past.

“Those statements do not represent my views on the club or the people who work there. I have nothing but respect for Manchester City and only wish the best for the football club.

Gesture of thanks

“I am immensely proud to have played a part in the club’s history and want to help City succeed further. I live to play football and entertain the fans. On that note, I would like to thank all of the fans for their messages through this difficult period. This means a great deal to me and my family.”

However, Seluk took a different view when he was interviewed by talkSPORT.

He said: “I’m not apologising. We want peace, but I’m not apologising. Apologise for what? Maybe Toure has apologised for this, but I don’t know for what. I think Yaya don’t mean this. He wants peace between him Guardiola.

“A lot of supporters want to see Yaya on the field and Yaya wants to help Manchester City get good results. We want to make peace between Guardiola, Yaya and me for the supporters, the team and for the results.

“A player like Yaya, one of the top players in the world, with a big salary, normally doesn’t stay out of the team. He must play.”

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