Former Arsenal defender attacks Guardiola for Yaya Toure’s treatment

Former Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue believes Yaya Toure had to leave Manchester City after the breakdown of his relationship with Pep Guardiola. And the Ivorian claims Guardiola was ‘killing’ Toure’s footballing career by not giving him as the playing time he deserved. Toure left the club as one of their greatest-ever players, having played a pivotal role in the 2012 and 2014 Premier League titles wins. However, the veteran midfielder was limited to only a handful of appearances last season, something Eboue believes Guardiola got wrong.

“As a player, there is a time you completely cannot work with a coach and because of your future, you must go,” Eboue said.

“It was evident Pep Guardiola did not like my brother Yaya right from the Barcelona days. It is the best decision for Yaya to get away from Guardiola’s territory because he was killing his career as a footballer.

“I think Yaya’s last one year has been hell because he was not playing enough. For a professional footballer that is very terrible.”

Toure left the club in acrimonious circumstances accusing his former City and Barcelona boss of having an agenda against African players – an accusation Guardiola said the midfielder was lying about. And Eboue believes the 35-year-old was right to leave the club this summer and continue his playing career elsewhere.

He continued: “Sometimes it’s not all about the money, but when your relationship as a player is not good with the manager and it does not seem like it will improve, it is always better to move elsewhere.

“Yaya is a great player and leader and I think he still has some years to continue playing at the highest level. He is the kind of player who can turn things round and he always wants to win.”

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