Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has told his agent, Dimitri Seluk, to follow his lead and apologise to Pep Guardiola to open the door for his return.
The 33-year-old hasn’t featured for City since appearing in their Champions League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest on August 24.
Toure has taken the first step to putting their problems behind them after publicly apologising to all concerned for the situation that they find themselves in currently.
“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,” he said, as reported by Sky Sports.
“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.”
As noted by The Mirror, it comes after a war of words between Guardiola and Seluk, with the latter now being asked by his client to seek a truce with his coach in order to help end his absence from the City line-up.
“I have spoken to Yaya in the last few days and he has asked me to make the peace with Pep,” said Seluk, as noted in the report.
“I agreed with him that I had to do what I could to make the situation better, because Yaya and Manchester City have been caught in the crossfire. I am genuine in what I say.”
The Mirror go on explain that the issue initially arose after Seluk was left outraged following the decision to leave Toure out of the club’s Champions League squad for this season.
However, the pair have their history too as Guardiola opted to sell Toure during his time in charge of Barcelona, and it came as no surprise to see further problems brew when they were reunited in Manchester this past summer.
Regardless of whether or not Guardiola accepts Seluk’s apology, it remains to be seen as to whether Toure will have a role to play for City between now and the end of the season.
The Manchester giants sit joint top of the Premier League table after 10 games and bounced back in Europe with a win over Barcelona last week with the likes of Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho playing important roles for the team in midfield.