Yaya Toure's agent became embroiled in an extraordinary war of words with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on Tuesday.
Guardiola has said the midfielder will not play for him again until his representative, Dimitri Seluk, apologises for recent remarks in the press.
But Seluk, who claimed Guardiola had humiliated Toure by leaving him out of City's Champions League squad, has said it is the Spaniard who should be saying sorry.
Seluk listed a string of complaints against City's manager, including the manner in which he succeeded Manuel Pellegrini in the summer and then replaced goalkeeper Joe Hart.
I will apologise to Guardiola if he will apologise to Pellegrini for what he did to him - Dimitri Seluk
Seluk told Sky Sports News: "Guardiola wins a few games and he thinks he is king. I live in Europe so I can say whatever I like and Guardiola cannot stop me.
"I will apologise to Guardiola if he will apologise to Pellegrini for what he did to him. If you are a gentleman this just does not happen.
"He signed a new contract last year then he gets pushed out for Guardiola to come in. Pellegrini was a gentleman.
"Guardiola also needs to apologise to Joe Hart. It's not right to come to England and then get rid of a few English players."
Seluk has a long history of controversial remarks concerning his client, most notoriously in 2014 when he claimed the club showed him a lack of respect on his 31st birthday, not even giving him a cake.
Now it seems Guardiola, who previously coached Toure at Barcelona, is not prepared to accept any interference in squad matters from intermediaries.
Guardiola said: "I cannot imagine in my period when I was a football player, my manager going to the media and speaking against Johan Cruyff, about this and about that.
"Maybe it's a new era now, the new period changing, but I'm an old guy. I am old generation, and (an) old generation manager has to make his players his job and trainers his job.
"Today the managers (agents) believe they are more than they are. If he has a problem call (director of football) Txiki Begiristain, the club, and they can talk. Until he doesn't speak, Yaya is not going to play."
Guardiola was speaking at a press conference to preview Wednesday's EFL Cup tie at Swansea.
It was a game Toure, 33, was expected to come back into the reckoning for but Guardiola immediately ruled the player out when asked.
Yaya was four days off with a headache, he was not here - Pep Guardiola
"He is not in the team," Guardiola said firmly. He was asked for clarification of the situation because it was reported last week that Toure had missed training with a migraine.
"Yaya was four days off with a headache, he was not here," Guardiola confirmed before adding he was now back in training.
Guardiola's revelations came on the same day Toure, of the Ivory Coast, announced his retirement from international football.
Toure wrote in a statement: "The fact that I am 33 now, the intensity of training and the multitude of games are not the reasons why I am making this decision.
"Football is everything to me and it gave me so much in my career that I no longer feel able to set myself new goals as a player with the Elephants of Ivory Coast. I would like to say solemnly that I am stopping!"
