‘Perhaps the worst’ – Aymeric Laporte makes stunning Pep Guardiola admission

‘Perhaps the worst’ – Aymeric Laporte makes stunning Pep Guardiola admission Aymeric Laporte has described Pep Guardiola as potentially the “worst” coach for interpersonal relationships despite ranking his former Manchester City manager among football’s finest tacticians. Laporte spent five-and-a-half years playing under Guardiola after joining City from Athletic Bilbao for a then-club-record £57 million in January 2018. The Spain international enjoyed enormous success during that period, collecting 13 major trophies before leaving for Al-Nassr in 2023. However, reflecting on their relationship during an appearance on former Spain international Mario Suarez’s El Camino de Mario podcast , Laporte offered a mixed assessment of Guardiola. “Tactically, he’s one of the best in football,” Laporte said. “In terms of interpersonal relationships, perhaps the worst.” Laporte also revealed that Guardiola had begun attempting to recruit him even before taking charge at Manchester City in 2016. The defender was still at Athletic Bilbao when Guardiola, then managing Bayern Munich, outlined his plans for City and told Laporte he wanted him alongside John Stones. “When Guardiola was at Bayern, he already had the City project in mind,” Laporte explained. “He told me he was going to City and he’d like me to partner with Stones.” Laporte claimed Barcelona and Chelsea were also “very interested” in signing him at the time, but a serious ankle injury suffered while representing France Under-21s complicated his immediate future. The centre-back ultimately decided he was not ready to move abroad and signed a new Athletic contract before Guardiola and City returned for him around 18 months later. “I was ready to go to another league, so I went to City,” Laporte said. “The rest is history.” That history included five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, three League Cups, the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup among Laporte’s honours at the Etihad Stadium. He was particularly influential during the 2018/19 campaign, making 51 appearances as City completed an unprecedented clean sweep of England’s domestic trophies. Laporte later found regular football harder to secure as Guardiola increasingly preferred other defensive options, and he made only eight Premier League appearances during City’s Treble-winning 2022/23 season. Guardiola eventually left Manchester City this summer after a decade in charge, having won 20 major trophies across 593 matches. Laporte’s comments therefore provide a revealing contrast between Guardiola’s extraordinary record and one former player’s experience of his man-management. The defender clearly retains enormous respect for Guardiola’s footballing ability, but his assessment suggests their relationship away from tactical matters was considerably less impressive.