They’re fined for not inviting me

Pep Guardiola has said the Manchester City stars caught in a video on a night out are only in trouble because they didn’t invite him.

A video posted on social media on Sunday night claimed to show Jack Grealish being refused entry to a Manchester bar.

However, sources at City have told ESPN that it down to confusion about the booking and said Grealish, along with Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez, left to attend a dinner at another venue.

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Guardiola said he has no problem with his players — who had been given a day off on Monday — being out in Manchester but joked they would still be fined because they had not invited their manager.

“I’m so upset because they didn’t invite me,” Guardiola told a news conference on Tuesday. “I don’t like it. Hopefully next time they can invite me for dinner.”

Grealish and teammate Phil Foden were dropped by Guardiola after angering him by returning to training in poor condition following a night out following a 7-0 win over Leeds United in December.

But the City manager insisted there were no issues this time and it is expected that Grealish, Walker and Mahrez will all be in the squad to face Brentford at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

“The video didn’t show exactly what happened,” Guardiola said about the latest incident.

“Dinner together, enjoying 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. But they will be fined because they didn’t invite me.”

Asked whether he thought the trio had been unfairly treated by the coverage their night out had received, Guardiola replied: “In this case, yes.”