Paul Pogba was offered to Manchester City in January transfer window, says Pep Guardiola
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Updated 06/04/2018 at 22:26 GMT+1
In an extraordinary press conference response to comments made by agent Mino Raiola, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed that his club was offered Paul Pogba in the January transfer window.
Paul Pogba of Manchester United warms up prior to the Premier League match between Manchester United and Swansea City at Old Trafford on March 31, 2018 in Manchester, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
Guardiola was responding to remarks made by Pogba's agent in an interview with Dutch magazine Quote, when Raiola said:
Pep Guardiola, the coach, is fantastic. As a person he’s an absolute zero. He’s a coward, a dog. He’s a classic priest: ‘Do as I tell you – don’t do what I do.’ If Manchester City win the Champions League this season it will emphasise what a good coach he is – but I’ll hate it.
And Guardiola responded in remarkably combative fashion on Friday, claiming that Raiola had offered Manchester United midfielders Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to City during the January transfer window. Mkhitaryan subsequently moved to Arsenal, while Pogba remains at Old Trafford but has featured less frequently in recent months.
Guardiola responded:
Finally, the people discover my secrets – a bad guy. I’m a coward. I don’t understand why I am a so bad guy. I never speak with him so his opinion [about me], I don’t know. But being a guy who two months ago offered me Mkhitaryan and Pogba to play with us. Why? Why he offer? He was interested in Mhikitaryan and Pogba to play with us? So he has to protect his players and has to know he cannot bring the players to a guy like me, like a dog. And comparing a dog is bad. It’s not good. He has to respect the dogs.
If Guardiola's claims are true it indicates that Pogba's agent was already trying to orchestrate a transfer move for the player even prior to the France international's breakdown in relations with United manager Jose Mourinho - which first became public in the game against Tottenham Hotspur on January 31.
Asked about his opinion of Pogba, Guardiola responded:
Pogba is an incredible player … A top, top player.
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