5 footballers who were not preferred by Pep Guardiola

#2. Yaya Toure

Yaya Toure has been a pivotal member of Manchester City’s squad since he joined them from Barcelona in 2010, but the same cannot be said of his role at Barcelona.

Toure joined the Spanish giants a year before Guardiola was appointed as the manager. During his first season with the club, he was a regular starter in league and European games, but that changed after the arrival of Guardiola.

Guardiola had worked with Barcelona’s youth team before he was appointed as the first team manager and because of his time with the youth squad, he was familiar with the abilities of Sergio Busquets. Busquets was thus given a major role in the first team under the new manager and because of the same, Toure’s game time dipped. On a few occasions, the Ivorian was even forced to play out of position in the heart of the defence and he operated in that role in the 2009 Champions League final.

During Toure’s final season with Barcelona, he found it even more difficult to get a regular spot in the team and was reduced to a mere squad player.

When Toure was asked about his departure in 2011, he had this to say: “Whenever I asked him something, he always gave strange answers. He pretty much ignored me until City's offer came in. That's why I eventually opted to leave. I didn't speak to Guardiola for a year.”

Now that City have announced Guardiola as their manager, it will only be a matter of time before Toure leaves the club.