Kevin De Bruyne defends Pep Guardiola over Yaya Toure racism claims

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 06 June 2018

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne insists that he has seen no evidence of discrimination from manager Pep Guardiola following allegations by Yaya Toure.

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has defended manager Pep Guardiola over claims from Yaya Toure that he has a problem with African players.

Toure was one of the most high-profile players to lose his place in the City side following Guardiola's arrival in 2016 and made just one Premier League start throughout the 2017-18 campaign.

The 35-year-old left the club after eight years last month following the expiration of his contract, and recently suggested that the reason behind his lack of playing time was down to his African descent.

However, De Bruyne has insisted that he has seen no evidence of such discrimination and insists that Guardiola made the right decision to leave Toure out of the team.

"I never saw something. It would be weird if the trainer was racist – with all the black guys in our team," De Bruyne told BBC World Football.

"So I don't know what Yaya said or if it's wrongly written or exaggerated. When you don't play there's always something you try to find.

"We had the best season ever, so in the end the coach took the right decision to play with the team who played a lot. This year the trainer probably thought [Yaya] wasn't doing enough, wasn't fit enough. I've never seen something racist at the club, ever."

Guardiola has himself refused to comment on Toure's allegations.