Why Gary Lineker was forced to apologise to Man City boss Pep Guardiola over snub

Gary Lineker has recounted the time he had to offer an apology to Pep Guardiola after the Manchester City boss revealed the Match Of The Day presenter used to constantly refuse his request for his shirt while at Barcelona.

Lineker played at the Nou Camp between 1986 and 1989. During the time Guardiola was part of La Masia academy and used to be a ballboy for first-team matches. After full-time, Guardiola used to ask Lineker for his shirt, only to be rejected each time.

Later in 2017, Lineker sat down for an interview with the Catalan coach a year after his appointment at the Etihad. Guardiola brought up his memories of the former striker’s constant rebuffs, for which Lineker offered his apologies.

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Remembering the interaction six years ago, Lineker told The Rest Is Football podcast: "Funnily enough I did say no to someone, and I didn't know I'd said no to someone. But it was Pep Guardiola.

“He wasn't a player, I wasn't playing against him, but when I went to interview him, the first time I ever interviewed him was when he'd just joined Manchester City.

“And we sat down to chat and he said 'Right before we start, I used to be the ball boy at the Nou Camp'. And he said 'For every game at the end of the game, I always used to come up to you and ask for you shirt and you never gave it me'.

"I'm that old that in those days you only got one shirt. They didn't want you to give it away. So that was why. So I had to apologise to him."