Eliaquim Mangala, a former defender for Manchester City, has admitted that Pep Guardiola asked him to quit the team because he “wasn’t what he was looking for at Etihad.”
In 2014, Mangala left Porto and joined Man City for a reported £32 million.
Mangala’s playing time at the Premier League champions significantly decreased once Guardiola joined Man City in 2016.
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Mangala initially left Manchester City on a permanent basis in 2019, after spending time on loan at Valencia and Everton.
The Frenchman has since acknowledged that Guardiola’s decision to not start him often was motivated more by his playing style than by his skill.
In response to a question about if he was disappointed by his time spent at Manchester City, Mangala said: “No. Why? I was ordered to leave and find another solution when he [Guardiola] arrived, so I did. Inter Milan made a proposal, but it wasn’t feasible financially.
I remained [at Man City] until the transfer window closed. The coach approached me at that point and spoke to me truly. There was no solution, he said, and now you are here. You have a pretty precise profile, which is not what I am looking for in terms of my playing style. He was very open and honest with me.
But you’re here, and we have four central defenders, he said. We’re going to work together, you’ll be prepared for every game because we play a lot of games, and you’ll receive playing time because you have qualities that I require that other people don’t.
You’re a really excellent player, but you don’t fit the bill for the type of person I’m looking for or the way I like to play. There it was. That is not a problem for me. Because the coach is aware of what he wants, I cannot be disappointed. It has to do with my profile, not my personal traits.
As he was behind John Stones, Vincent Kompany, and Nicolas Otamendi in the pecking order at Man City, Mangala was Guardiola’s fourth-choice center-back.