Mino Raiola
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, is a hypocrite and a ‘zero’ of a person, according to agent Mino Raiola.
Raiola, whose clients include Manchester United pair Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku, launched the incredible verbal assault on Guardiola in the latest in a long-running feud between the pair.
The Italian-born Dutch agent has disliked Guardiola since he forced Zlatan Ibrahimovic – another of his clients – out of Barcelona in 2011, and made that disdain clear in a magazine interview.
In an interview with Dutch magazine Quote, Raiola said: ‘Pep Guardiola? As a trainer he is fantastic, as a man, he is a zero.
‘He is a classical priest: do what I say, not 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.’
Ibrahimovic was pushed out of Barca to AC Milan, initially on a loan and then on a permanent transfer, when Guardiola took over as manager at the Nou Camp.
The bad blood has never settled for Raiola, who revealed the extent to which he encouraged Ibrahimovic to get his own back on the Spaniard.
Raiola said: ‘Guardiola told Zlatan to go to him if he ever had any problems or complaints, but then he just ignored him and wasn’t playing him. He didn’t even say hello to Zlatan.
‘Guardiola did the same to Maxwell who is a lovely lad. So I told Zlatan to go and park his Ferrari in the manager’s spot!’