Pep Guardiola didn't sign for Manchester City as a player because he didn't think he would touch the ball, according to a fellow trialist.
The midfielder was coming towards the end of a long and distinguished playing career when he spent some time training with the Blues in 2005, who were looking forward to another season in the Premier League under Stuart Pearce at the time.
Guardiola was offered a six-month deal but turned it down in search of a longer contract as he sought to settle with his family, and would ultimately end his playing career without a spell in England.
The Blues coach has since said that it was the right decision given his physical condition at the time. However, former City winger Hussein Yasser said the playing style was also at odds with Guardiola's game. Yasser joined the club in 2005 but left in January 2006 after just one league cup appearance.
“When I think about it now, Pearce wasn’t the right type of coach for me, for my style of playing. He liked tackles and long balls,” he told Planet Football, before adding: “That’s what Guardiola told me when we were together. He said, ‘You will never play here.’
“When I asked him why, he said ‘Because they play a long ball to [Andy] Cole or to [Darius] Vassell from Danny Mills or David James. If I play here, if you play here, we’ll have no chance to touch the ball because they only want this way of playing,”
