Barcelona wanted Yaya Toure stay

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has brushed off talk that he froze Man City midfielder Yaya Toure out of his plans for the future, insisting that he wanted to keep the Ivory Coast international.

Toure joined Manchester City two years ago from the Spanish side, and recently revealed that Guardiola left him out of the team with no reason.

But Guardiola defended his actions: "The doors of my office were always open. The reality is that he asked president Joan Laporta to leave and that we tried to convince him to stay. If we face City in the Champions League I'll talk to him."