Pep Guardiola branded a 'dog' and a 'coward' by super-agent Mino Raiola

The two have a long-running feud that has lasted since 2010

Jack Austin
Sunday 25 March 2018 11:25 BST
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Guardiola and Raiola have a poor relationship
Guardiola and Raiola have a poor relationship (Getty)

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Mino Raiola, the super-agent who looks after the likes of Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku, has launched an astonishing attack on Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

The Spaniard was branded “a coward, a dog” by Raiola, who refused to mince his words when discussing Guardiola, publicising a long-running feud between the pair.

The hostility came to a head in 2011 when his client Ibrahimovic was forced out of Barcelona after disputes with Guardiola, which ultimately cost him a Champions League winners’ medal which has evaded him his whole career.

And the relationship is so bad between Raiola and Guardiola now that the agent insisted he would sent his players to other clubs rather than see the Manchester City boss benefit from their services.

“Pep Guardiola, the coach, is fantastic. As a person he’s an absolute zero. He’s a coward, a dog,” Raiola said.

“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.

“I went for him that night in the corridors at Wembley [after Barcelona beat Manchester United in the Champions League final in 2011] - only Adriano Galliani, AC Milan’s chairman, stopped me. Lucky for Guardiola.

“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!”

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