Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has denied comments credited to former Yaya Toure about him having problems with African players.

The former Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss was responding to those comments in an interview with Catalan Television TV3.

Guardiola said: “It’s a lie and he knows it.”

“We were together for two years and now this is when he says it. He never told me face to face.” He stated further.

Yaya Toure had earlier insinuated that Guardiola has problems with African players in a chat with France Football.

The ex-Ivorian international midfielder said: “He was cruel with me. Do you believe that Barcelona could have done that with (Andres) Iniesta? I even started wondering to myself whether it was about my colour.

“I’m not the first person to talk about his different ways of treating people. I know some other people at Barca who have also wondered about that. Maybe it’s the case that we Africans aren’t always treated by certain people in the same way that they treat others.

“When you see that he’s had problems with Africans wherever he’s been in the past, you wonder. When the day comes that he picks a team featuring five Africans – and not naturalised Africans – I promise I will send him a cake!” he concluded.