The following soccer stars had a contentious relationship with Pep Guardiola.
(1.) Yaya Toure. (Manchester City)
Many footballers dream of playing under Guardiola, one man who can’t seem to escape him is Yaya Toure. The Ivorian emerged as of the brightest prospects in Europe playing in Greece with Olympiacos.
Barcelona snapped him up for €10 million and he became the trusted defensive midfielder behind Xavi and Iniesta. When Pep took over this quickly changed and the clubs top stars Ronaldinho and Deco were sold to make way for Busquets and Pedro.
As Busquets matured into a world-class midfielder this was Toure’s downfall. Yaya became aggravated as once again the Spaniard ignored him until Man City came in with a transfer bid.
They were reunited at Man City seven years later where once again Toure found himself on the bench. Toure left in 2018 and rejoined his old club Olympiacos.
(2.) Zlatan Ibrahimovic.(Barcelona)
It’s safe to say Ibrahimovic isn’t Guardiola’s biggest fan after the pair fell out during their time together at Barcelona. The first six months went well until tactics changed and the Swedish was no longer the focal point of attack.
Zlatan was played out of his position on the wing to make space of Messi in attack. His ego couldn’t take it and a feud started to emerge.
Towards the end of his spell at the Nou Camp, Ibrahimovic spent more time on the bench and Guardiola stopped talking to him. Thankfully his nightmare ended when he was sold to AC Milan.
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(3.) Dante. (Bayern Munich)
The curly haired Brazilian was managed by Pep during his time at Bayern Munich. He joined the year Munich won the treble and formed a mean defensive partnership with Boateng, conceding 15 goals in 34 games.
Dante was sold to Wolfsburg despite being a consistent starter in the centre of defence. Later Dante declared that Guardiola was a tactical genius but isn’t good dealing with players on a human level.
(4.) Alexander Hleb. ( Barcelona)
The Belarusian had a moderately successful spell at Arsenal, helping them reach a Champions League final. Hleb was one of Guardiola’s first signings at Barca alongside Dani Alves and Gerard Pique.
Seven months into his career in the La Liga, Hleb had only started five games and though they won the treble that year, he wasn’t happy to sit on the bench. He turned down a loan move to Inter Milan to return to his old club Stuttgart before somehow ending up at Birmingham.
Unwilling to take responsibility for his disappointing spell at Barcelona, Hleb stated that Guardiola isn’t a great manager and is successful because he has the best team with the best players. He believed that Jose Mourinho, Alex Ferguson and Wenger are far better managers.
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