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The Ivory Coast legend has denied the existence of such a ‘curse’ while disassociating himself from comments made by his ex-agent
Former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has dismissed the existence of a Champions League curse on his former club, calling it ‘nonsense’.
Toure was responding to comments made by his former agent Dimitri Seluk that the curse he once called to be placed on Pep Guardiola by 'African shamans' to stop the manager from winning the Champions League has been lifted.
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The brouhaha stemmed from Toure's relationship with Guardiola deteriorating during the Ivorian's final season at the club, which saw him make just one Premier League start during Manchester City's 2017-18 campaign.
However, the Ivorian, who now works as an academy coach at Tottenham Hotspur, has refuted any existence of such a curse while disassociating himself from Seluk.
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“My former agent is being quoted by the media about a ‘curse’,” Toure said via a Twitter post. “Please don’t associate me with this nonsense and lazy stereotypes about African curses!”
“Media… move on please. This man does not represent me in any way. Amplifying these stereotypes is harmful.”
At the time when his relationship with Guardiola soured, Toure said to France Football that the Catalan manager did 'everything to spoil [his] last season' and queried the manager's approach to selecting African players.
“The day he picks a team with five Africans in it, I promise I will send him a cake,” the player said in an apparent reference to Toure's 2014 'birthday cake snub', which saw the City legend's birthday allegedly go without recognition from his club.
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In the wake of the comments, Seluk said that an 'African curse' would stem from Toure's dissatisfaction with his coach, stymying any future chance of glory in Europe.
However, according to the UK’s Mirror, Seluk apologised and said that both he and Toure wish 'nothing but success for City'.
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