ToBeCandidUpdate™

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insisted nothing has changed in his stormy relationship with Yaya Toure although he welcomed the Ivory Coast international’s apology for controversial statements issued by the player’s agent. The City manager was talking on Friday just hours after Toure issued an apology over his dispute with the Spaniard as he attempted to bring an end to an impasse that has seen him left out of the team since the opening weeks of the season. Toure’s agent Dimitri Seluk had originally created the problem by criticising Guardiola for his treatment of Toure and other City stars. But while Guardiola has accepted the apology and Toure is available for selection for the Premier League leaders’ clash with Middlesbrough on Saturday, his hopes of a recall look slim given several in-form players are currently ahead of him in the pecking order at City. “I spoke with Yaya this morning and of course it is a private conversation so I know what happened, what he said,...

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero believes he is improving as a player under Pep Guardiola’s tutelage this season, and says he was not angry after being left on the bench in Barcelona a fortnight ago. Aguero was named as a substitute for tactical reasons at Camp Nou but started against the same opposition on Tuesday and played a starring role as City won 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Guardiola has often spoke of Aguero’s need to improve in various different areas of his game but praised the striker’s performance against the Catalans as “awesome”. It had been reported that the forward took exception to the manager’s decision to leave him out of the starting line-up at Camp Nou a fortnight ago, but he says he never had any issues. “No, I’m never angry,” he said. “I respect every manager’s decision. He said it was a tactical thing and I obviously respect that. When I went onto the pitch I tried to give my best and then train hard to be ready for the next game. But no one was in...

Donald Trump has praised the FBI for its new investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, saying “it took guts”. The Republican candidate spoke about the probe at a rally in Michigan after it was revealed last week that the bureau would examine whether newly discovered emails contained sensitive government information. He said Hillary Clinton had put “the safety of the American people under threat” in “the biggest scandal since Watergate”. The Democrat, whose lead in the polls has narrowed this week, is “likely to be under investigation for a very long time,” Mr Trump added. Speaking about FBI director James Comey, the billionaire tycoon said he wanted to “give credit” to him for opening the fresh investigation. Mr Trump also used his speech to speak about employment, promising to “win back the White House” and “bring your jobs back to America”.