Manchester United's Paul Pogba offered to City during January transfer window, says Pep Guardiola

According to Guardiola, super-agent Mino Raiola offered both Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Manchester City during the most recent transfer window

Pep Guardiola has sensationally revealed that he was offered the chance to sign Manchester United's Paul Pogba by the midfielder’s agent Mino Raiola during the January transfer window.

The Manchester City manager, who also claimed Raiola offered the former United winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan, made the revelation on the eve of a Manchester derby in which victory for City will seal the Premier League title.

Guardiola’s comments also came as a response to Raiola, who publicly labelled the Catalan a “coward” and a “dog” as part of the pair’s long-running feud last month.

Pogba’s future has been subject of some speculation since he was dropped from United’s starting line-up by Jose Mourinho in February.

Even so, the overt suggestion that the 25-year-old is looking to leave Old Trafford is likely to displease Mourinho, Guardiola’s long-standing rival.

At his pre-derby press conference on Friday, Guardiola responded to a question about his rivalry with Mourinho by saying: “I have many [rivals]… especially agents.”

Guardiola was then asked whether Raiola was one such ‘rival’, in light of the ‘super-agent’ describing him as “an absolute zero” in March. “He’s a coward, a dog,” Raiola said, “He’s a classic priest. ‘Do as I tell you, don’t do what I do.’”

The City manager was initially reluctant to expand on his first answer, but then said: “I could answer him. I have a question. Yeah, I will answer him, come on. Okay.

“I don’t understand why I am so… I agree with him,” he began. “Finally, the people discover my secrets, I am a bad guy. I’m a coward.

“I don’t understand why I am so a bad guy. I never speak with him so his opinion [about me], I don’t know. But being a guy who two months ago offered me Mkhitaryan and Pogba to play with us. Why?

“Why [did] he offer? He was interested in Mkhitaryan and Pogba to play with us? So he has to protect his players and has to know he cannot bring the players to a guy like me, like a dog. And comparing a dog is bad. It’s not good. He has to respect the dogs.”

Paul Pogba's Old Trafford future has become the subject of some speculation (Getty)

Guardiola described Pogba as an “incredible” player but claimed he turned down Raiola’s offer as the midfielder would be expensive to sign.

City currently have no Raiola clients in their squad and when asked whether he would ever consider doing business with the Italian-Dutch agent, Guardiola simply reiterated Raiola’s criticisms of him.

“I am not a good guy. I am not a good guy,” he said. “He deserves his players to play with better guys. But, he knows as well I am a top manager. Thank you.”

Raiola, in response, did not deny offering Pogba and Mkhitaryan to City, but stressed that any offer would be made to the club and not Guardiola personally.

“I never spoke with Guardiola, I would never talk to him about my players, I would talk to Manchester City,” he said.

Pogba, meanwhile, responded to Guardiola’s claims on social media shortly after they emerged, tweeting a picture of himself cupping his ear while training with United alongside the caption: “Say what?”

Guardiola’s feud with Raiola relates to Raiola client Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his ill-fated time at Barcelona.

Ibrahimovic played under Guardiola at the Nou Camp during the 2009-10 campaign but a clash of personalities resulted in the Swede being loaned out to Milan after just a single season and eventually sold to the Serie A club.


 Mkhitaryan left United for Arsenal, not Manchester City 
 (Getty)

On the derby itself, Guardiola said that the prospect of City winning the league title against their oldest rivals could not compare to the club’s 2012 win, sealed on goal difference by Sergio Aguero’s stoppage-time winner against Queens Park Rangers.

“Nothing can compare. Nothing can compare to win in the last minute, the last second, the last chance,” he said.

“You cannot compare with that. So, now, if tomorrow win, or Tottenham win, or Swansea, the other [fixtures], we will be so happy. Football is emotion and emotion is when something unexpected [happens] in the last seconds, when the time is over, the time is finishing.

“Nothing what happens in that club will be more exciting than what happened with the Aguero goal. Of course we are so happy to win the title for this club.”