Guardiola insists Grealish was ‘perfect’ on night out after footage goes viral

Pep Guardiola has claimed that Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez were “perfect” during a night out enjoyed by the Manchester City players and some backroom staff on Sunday.

Video footage that went viral on social media showed the players apparently being turned away from a bar in Manchester, with the person who filmed it claiming Grealish was “drunk”. The club denied this and said no rules had been broken with regard to the timing of the evening because Monday was a day off.

Guardiola brushed off the incident by joking: “I’m so upset because they didn’t invite me. I don’t like it – hopefully next time they can invite me for dinner. The video didn’t show exactly what happened.”

The manager was clear he had no issue with any of the players. “[They all had] dinner together sober, enjoying it with their mates and backroom staff. The players know the risk when they go out because of social media but all of them – Riyad, Kyle, Jack – were perfect.” He added jokingly: “But they will be fined because they didn’t invite me.”

Guardiola was asked whether his players can be treated unfairly on social media and in the wider media. “In this case yes,” he said.