Man City: Pep Guardiola says reports claiming the club has shown ‘utter disrespect’ in China are false

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says claims the club has shown “disrespect” by ignoring fans on their tour of Asia is “far away from the reality”.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that City had not engaged with local fans in China last week and shown “discrimination” towards local media.

“I should say I don’t agree and also that it’s false,” said Guardiola.

“I can’t understand what people are saying – maybe one journalist is a bit upset, I don’t know why,” he added.

“But it’s far away from the reality.

“We had an incredible time in Shanghai. We were committed to the co-operation you have to do here in China. The people from the hotel, all the people asking us to do things, we were ready to do that.

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“For us it’s a new experience every season, it will help on the pitch, and off the pitch we are showing what an amazing club we are and how we are trying to be better every season. I’m so proud of what we’ve done – all the marketing departments, all the people who’ve organised this tour.”

Forward Raheem Sterling added: “Every time we got back from training to the hotel, we embraced the fans, we signed signatures, we said our goodbyes, I thought there was a really good connection. I thought China was a great experience. You ask the boys, they all loved it.”

City played in the Asia Trophy, beating West Ham in Nanjing and losing on penalties to Wolves in Shanghai, before travelling to Hong Kong, where they will play local side Kitchee on Wednesday.

Government protests have been taking place in Hong Kong for several weeks and pro-democracy protesters were attacked on Sunday.

However, Guardiola said the players felt “safe”, while Sterling added: “It has no impact, we’re aware of the situation but we are getting on with training.”

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