Manchester City Manager Guardiola decided not to pick Yaya Toure until his agent issues a personal apology for criticizing his decision to leave the midfielder out.
The conflict between Yaya Touré's representative and Manchester City escalated on Tuesday when Guardiola said that the midfielder will not play for him again unless his agent apologizes for comments he made about the Ivorian omission from the club's Champions League squad.
The outspoken Seluk criticized Guardiola for humiliating a great player like Yaya.
The words irked Guardiola and he responded before Wednesday's EFL Cup third-round against Swansea City and said that Touré will not play in the club unless his agent retracts his statement.
"He must apologize to his team-mates, to the club. If he doesn't, he won't play," said the 45-year-old manager.
"It was difficult to leave him out of the Champions League squad but [the] day after, his [agent] went to the media. He has not had the courage to call me. From that moment he was out. I know him, I know he's a good guy, but it was difficult for me as well to put Aleix García out," he added.
"I cannot imagine in my period when I was a football player, my manager going to the media and speaking against Johan Cruyff, about this and about that. If he has a problem call the club, and they can talk. Until he speaks, Yaya is not going to play."
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Seluk responded: "If Pep Guardiola wants a war, then he can have one. Pep didn't like my opinion? But what does he expect me to say when he does this to Yaya? I spoke out because I felt that Pep was being vindictive to Yaya. Unfortunately for Pep, we live in a world where you have the right to free speech. He has reacted to what I have said about him by punishing Yaya again. But I'm not surprised."
He also added: "Pep doesn't want players with personality. He only wants players who are scared of him and will do what he says. The first thing he did when he arrived at City was to pick a fight with Yaya and Joe Hart, two of the club's biggest players."
Pep Guardiola had strong words for Dimitri Seluk. He warned him that the 33-year-old player could be frozen out completely for the remaining eight months of his £220,000-a-week contract at the Etihad unless his agent shows how much he cares for his client and apologizes.
Dimitri Seluk has a long history of the war of words with Manchester City. Back in 2014, he was making a big deal out of City failing to provide a birthday cake for the Yaya Toure. Seluk popped up again in the spring, this time deploring the timing of the team's announcement that Guardiola would be a new manager of the team.
He called it a "catastrophic mistake' which 'destroyed the spirit in the changing room".
Even after Guardiola had arrived, Seluk pushed on with his criticism of Manchester City. And so we come to today, with Guardiola reaching the end of his tether.
It remains to be seen how this saga will end.
