Revealed: Pep Guardiola forced to apologise to Phil Foden in front of Man City squad | OneFootball

A new report reflecting on Pep Guardiola’s decade of success at Manchester City has revealed a remarkable interaction between the Catalan boss and Phil Foden.

Guardiola bid an emotional farewell to Manchester City after his last game in charge against Aston Villa and a subsequent open bus parade celebrating the successes of the club’s women’s and men’s sides from the recent campaign.

The 55-year-old is set for a sabbatical as he brings the curtain down on a demanding decade in English football, winning six Premier League titles, a maiden UEFA Champions League title for Manchester City, a historic treble and a domestic quadruple.

City are expected to confirm the appointment of Enzo Maresca as manager in the coming days, with a three year deal agreed with the Italian in principle after Guardiola and nearly all of his backroom staff departed the club.

In the backdrop of Guardiola’s exit from the Etihad Stadium, a wide-ranging report has shed light on a fascinating exchange between the Catalan and Phil Foden in the early years of their time together at the Etihad Stadium.

When Guardiola and Foden clashed in Portugal

The Telegraph’s James Ducker has revealed that in a UEFA Champions League tie against FC Porto in 2020, when Foden was only 20-years-old, the England midfielder failed to take a free-kick in the way Guardiola had wanted.

That led to the City manager screaming, “F—— hell Phil! You haven’t f—— done what I said!” However, in return, Foden was furious, with the report claiming that he ‘marched off the pitch and was fully changed before some team-mates even returned to the dressing room’.

Upon Guardiola’s arrival at the dressing room himself, Foden is said to have been waiting by the door and yelled, “Don’t ever f—— do that to me again! You wouldn’t do that to f—— David Silva!”

In response, The Telegraph reveals that Pep Guardiola in fact apologised and called a meeting the following day to apologise to the now 26-year-old in front of the entire group, then paying a self-imposed fine into the players’ pot – well received by the squad.