Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola denies that he was contacted about coaching Argentina’s national side after AFA president Claudio Tapia said they couldn’t afford him because of his “fat wallet.”
Argentina had a miserable World Cup and were eliminated by eventual winner France in the last-16 after struggling through the group stages.
As a result of the South Americans’poor showing at the quadrennial tournament, head coach Jorge Sampaoli was sacked as the national side’s head coach.
In an interview with TyC Sports (according to Goal) Tapia claimed that he approached Guardiola as a replacement, but the Manchester City boss’s pockets were too deep to fill.
“We tried to find out about getting Guardiola but it was very difficult,” Tapia said. “Very difficult… a fat wallet. Yes, we found out something. It was impossible.”
Guardiola appeared incredulous during a press conference on Friday and offered a comprehensive denial of Tapia’s claims to reporters.
“So no, I’m a little bit disappointed because the president of the AFA cannot say that he could not be in contact with Pep because his salary is amazing,” the City boss said at his Friday press conference.
“To know that he has to know my salary. Secondly he has to know that I know exactly that when you are with a national team the approach is completely different. And the third thing, the most important, is that nobody contacted me.”
Guardiola added that he will see his Manchester City contract out until it runs out at he end of the 2021 season and will not consider other opportunities until then. The City boss also said that the next Argentinian coach “has to be” Argentinian.
“Of course because I have a contract and I want to stay here until the end,” Guardiola added. “It was not correct to say the reason why [due to his salary].
“And another one: for the Argentina national team, the manager has to be Argentine. There are many, and they are really good, so I’m not going to train Argentina.
“I don’t know what happens in the future but don’t say, ‘I don’t go with Pep because of the salary’, because for that he has to talk to me and know everything. Next time he will do better.”
City won the league last season in record-breaking fashion, they will travel to north London on Sunday to open their Premier League account against Arsenal.
The post Pep Guardiola responds to claims he priced himself out of Argentina switch appeared first on Squawka News.
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