Yaya Toure wanted to play against United after late arrival

YAYA Toure pleaded with Pep Guardiola to play in the Manchester derby defeat in Houston, despite only flying in to the US the day before.

And Leroy Sane also turned out for City as they went down 2-0 to United in the NRG Stadium in Houston.

Both players had been mysteriously missing from the Blues’ tour party which flew out to Texas on Monday morning, sparking speculation that Toure might have had another disagreement with Guardiola.

That was quickly scotched by both the player’s camp and the club and Toure flew in two days later, while Sane was even later in linking up with his teammates.

Pep Guardiola finally called time on the mystery by revealing why the pair had not joined the rest of the squad on their flight from Manchester.

“Yaya was not with us for the last four or five days because he had a problem with his passport,” said Guardiola.

“He arrived the day before but said ‘I want to play, I want to play’.

“It was the same with Leroy, who arrived at three in the afternoon and was for the last six or seven days in Munich and Manchester with a problem with his passport too.

“He made the effort to play 45 minutes and Yaya is a guy of 33 or 34 who needs training sessions, but arrives in a good way. And he played quite well in the first half.”

The Blues have now flown on to Los Angeles ahead of their game against Real Madrid next Wednesday.