LONDON: Pep Guardiola has rejected a proposal to add Paul Pogba to his formidable Manchester City squad. The offer arrived around “two months ago” from Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola, according to the City manager who made the stunning revelation ahead of the Manchester derby on Saturday.
Manchester United’s record signing was at that point embroiled in a dispute with Mourinho over his position and defensive responsibilities within, and his general contribution to, the team. After failing to secure a pay rise for his star client on the back of Alexis Sanchez’s January move to Old Trafford, Raiola began canvassing the interest of other leading clubs in Pogba with a view to a summer transfer.
Raiola’s efforts included proposing the most controversial deal possible — a cross-Manchester move from United to City. On top of the sheer audacity of trying to tempt the Abu Dhabi-owned club into bidding for one of United’s most valuable assets, Raiola’s strategy involved placing the France midfielder under the stewardship of a coach he recently described as “an absolute zero ... a coward, a dog."
Referring to Raiola’s comments in an interview with Dutch publications Quote, Guardiola said he was surprised Pogba’s representative had even considered negotiating a transfer to City. “I am surprised because I am a dog,” said Guardiola. “So if I’m a dog he cannot join his players to here. No way.
“Why he offered if we were interested in Pogba and [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan to play with us? I'm a bad guy, so he has to protect his players, so he has to know he cannot bring his players to a guy like me, like a dog.
“And comparing [me to] a dog is bad. It's not good. He has to respect the dogs.”
Raiola's conflict with Guardiola is long standing, with the agent criticising the Catalan's handling of Zlatan Ibrahimovic during their single season together at Barcelona in 2009-10. “Pep Guardiola, the coach, is fantastic,” Raiola told Quote earlier this month. “As a person he’s an absolute zero. He’s a coward, a dog.
“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.
“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.”
Asked for his response to Raiola's comments on the eve of a match in which Pogba's United will attempt to stop City from securing the Premier League title against them, Guardiola initially declined to comment. The Catalan then said he had “a question” about Raiola's behaviour.
“I am agreed with him,” Guardiola said. “Finally, the people discover my secrets: I'm a bad guy. I'm a coward. I never speak with him ... so maybe Ibra explained many things about me. But being a bad guy, like two months ago he offered Mkhitaryan and Pogba to play with us. Why?”
Guardiola said Pogba was “an exceptional player — a top, top player”, but that City – who have committed an unprecedented €586million to transfer fees alone over his two campaigns at the club — could not afford the deal. “I said no. We don’t have enough money to buy Pogba because he’s so expensive.”
Mourinho is unlikely to take well to Guardiola’s public intervention into an issue that is of critical importance to his preparations for a third campaign as United manager. Should his team lose at City on Saturday, the English title will be decided on the earliest date since 1956.
Asked on Friday about offering Pogba to City, Raiola told BBC Sport: “I never spoke to Pep Guardiola. I would not speak to him about players, I would speak to Manchester City. They are a fantastic club with a fantastic manager.”
Paul Pogba was offered to Manchester City, reveals Pep Guardiola in stunning admission
Paul Pogba was offered to Manchester City, reveals Pep Guardiola in stunning admission
- Top agent Mino Raiola discussed move away from Old Trafford for club's record buy
- Guardiola: 'I said no. We don’t have enough money to buy Pogba'
Humbert stuns Tsitsipas as defending champion exits Dubai in first round
- Last year’s winner lost in straight sets to the 2024 champion
- Ugo Humbert will now play the 2022 champion, Andrey Rublev, on Wednesday
DUBAI: Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday night, falling in the first round to 2024 title-winner Ugo Humbert under the bright lights of the center court.
The 4-6, 5-7 defeat at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium means the 27-year-old Greek, who left the court with his head bowed, will drop outside the world top 40 for the first time in almost eight years.
The first-round meeting between the two unseeded Dubai champions caught the eye as soon as the main draw took place on Saturday for this week’s ATP 500 tournament. Only seven world ranking places separated the pair and the lower-ranked Humbert, at No. 37, edged the pre-match head-to-head record at 3-1. Tsitsipas has not yet progressed beyond the quarterfinals across five events since the start of the year.
“It was a funny first round — the two last winners of the tournament,” said Humbert, who beat Alexander Bublik in the final here two years ago. “It’s so good to be back where I won the tournament. I have such good memories, and it was a tough battle tonight.”
From the first exchanges, both players dominated their service games with remarkable ease. Tsitsipas only conceded two points in his first four, while Humbert was forced to deuce in just one game. Yet as the scoreline progressed in undramatic fashion to 5-4 to Humbert, and with Tsitsipas’ majestic topspin backhand starting to purr, the Greek’s serve deserted him when he needed it most.
Fewer than 24 hours after he had enjoyed a Ramadan cultural experience that saw him don a dark blue kandura to eat the fast-breaking iftar meal, Tsitsipas demonstrated the season’s spirit of generosity by gifting Humbert a pair of double-faults, an unforced error and, ultimately, the opening set.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with Tsitsipas unable to change the course of the match. Humbert conceded two break points in the first game yet found the resolve to dig deep and hold on. The set stayed on serve for 11 consecutive games until, with Humbert 6-5 up and Tsitsipas serving to stay in the tournament, another two wasteful forehands by the three-time finalist handed Humbert two match points.
The Frenchman took the victory at the first opportunity as Tsitsipas’ third unforced forehand error in sequential points sealed his fate.
“I think today, it was a big battle,” said Humbert. “We both served very well, and I had just a few opportunities and I did it, so I’m super happy. It’s nice to come back to play again on this beautiful court. I have such a nice feeling when I play here and it’s nice to be in (the) second round.”
Next up for Humbert is 2022 champion Andrey Rublev, who eased past France’s Valentin Royer 6-3, 6-4. The energetic Muscovite shuttled around Center Court like a man incapable of letting a ball past him, with more than one seemingly impossible return sent safely back by the 28-year-old.
Royer saved eight second-set break points by the time he levelled the set at 2-2, but Rublev’s serving was at times unplayable. His shot selection must have left his opponent bewildered as he mixed impudent drop shots with returnable volleys at the net.
“It was a great win for me because I knew very well in our first meeting, I lost,” said Rublev. “[Royer’s] a great fighter, and I’m really happy that I was able to take that challenge and go through in straight sets. When you play so late, to have some time to recover before the next match is so important.”
On facing Humbert, he added: “It’s going to be great for me to see my level because Ugo is a great player. He’s hitting the ball really hard; he’s getting better and better, and always fights until the end, playing super aggressive and hitting bombs from all over the place. He’s won here in the past too, so it’s going to be an interesting fight.”
Earlier in the day, eighth seed Jiri Lehecka survived losing the first set to Lucky Loser Luca Nardi — a late injury replacement for France’s Arthur Fils — by recovering to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The Czech world No. 22 will face Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta on Wednesday after the qualifier disposed of Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4.
In the final game on New Court 1, sixth seed Jakub Mensik edged past Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-4, 7-6 (7). Mensik will face Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, the world No. 47, who narrowly edged out Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Meanwhile on Court 2, world No. 25 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands — the highest-ranked player not seeded in Dubai this week — defeated Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen 6-3, 6-4 to set-up a mouthwatering second round match against second seed Alexander Bublik.
Elsewhere, Arthur Rinderknech also lost the first set en route to defeating Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The imposing Frenchman will play British fourth seed Jack Draper in the next round. The USA’s Jenson Brooksby, the world No. 49, dispatched Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 to seal a last-16 tie against seventh seed Karen Khachanov, who required three sets to eliminate Lucky Loser Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.
