Pep Guardiola was moved to use an expletive on live television when he suddenly became unsure of Benjamin Mendy’s whereabouts on Friday afternoon.
The Manchester City left back posted his location on Instagram as being at Hong Kong International Airport, and when this was put to Guardiola, whose press conference was being broadcast on Sky Sports, the manager signalled his confusion by swearing.
“Hong Kong? Fuck – is he? He said he was going to Paris but Hong Kong – I don’t know,” said Guardiola in reference to where the Frenchman had gone after treatment in Spain. “I have to understand Instagram. Really, I don’t know. Yesterday he was in Barcelona.”
Asked if it would be okay if Mendy was in Hong Kong, Guardiola said: “Hong Kong, definitely not.”
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Mendy responded by saying it was not true. “I was just joking with my Uber driver, I don’t want no problems Pep,” he tweeted. This was in reference to the Instagram post, which was a video in which he included the driver.
We had a game [at Everton] and that was more important, plus the training sessions before
City confirmed Mendy was indeed in Spain, but Guardiola may still be displeased given he has previously warned Mendy about his use of social media. Guardiola also responded to Aleksander Ceferin after the Uefa president claimed City lacked class for failing to attend a meeting this week regarding VAR.
“I respect what he says but I don’t agree with him. Brian Kidd [Guardiola’s assistant manager] was there – he was there in the meeting. On the Wednesday we had a game [at Everton] and that was more important, plus the training sessions before.
“I had tickets to go but the Premier League decided to put the game at Everton then. So, Mr Ceferin, we were not in that position [regarding what he claimed].”
Guardiola suggested Kevin De Bruyne may no longer be an automatic starter for City. The Belgian was a replacement at Everton, coming on to create Gabriel Jesus’s late goal. Guardiola said this was because De Bruyne is still being eased back following injury. “It’s quite possible [he might not start]. There are times when team-mates are in better condition –in football what you have done in the past, you have to do in future.”
– Guardian
