Pep Guardiola was once punished for doing a catwalk show and wouldn't allow one of his players to do the same

Pep Guardiola was once punished for hitting the catwalk as a model, when he was a player, before stopping one of his own players doing the same.

Maybe Guardiola's annoyance that Julia Roberts never visited Manchester City is that he wanted to show off his magnificent rizz to try and impress the actress.

Certainly the fact that Roberts decided to visit Manchester United, rather than the blue side of the city, annoyed the Premier League winning boss, which United's social media team were clearly enjoying.

Perhaps he felt he had a chance of wooing her with his good looks and personality, and taking getting her to turn her head from husband Daniel Moder.

He had the aesthetics to be considered a model during his playing career, once hitting the catwalk in 1993 for Catalonian fashion designer Antonio Miro, as you can see in the video below.

However, it seems like it wasn't his best career decision, as it actually landed the former midfielder in trouble at the Nou Camp, as Miro's son David explained.

"Pep asked my father in the 90s if he could model for him. My dad was an FC Barcelona supporter, so he liked the idea and said yes," David told Mundial magazine.

"Johan Cruyff punished Pep afterwards for being unprofessional."

And the former Bayern Munich manager obviously learned from that incident, and took up the mantra of 'do as I say, not as I do.'

The fashion designer's son revealed that one of Guardiola's players tried to be involved years later, but the 52-year-old wouldn't let him.

"When some years later Barcelona’s defender Gerard Pique asked the same to my father, Guardiola didn’t let him," the younger Miro added.

"The funny thing about it all is that every single garment Guardiola wore in that show was sold out in a few days."

Maybe Guardiola was worried Pique would be a better model than him. Image: Alamy

Whilst his actions on the catwalk may have annoyed Cruyff, his own actions also cost Guardiola the chance to work with one of the world's best playmakers.

Having retired this week, Mezut Ozil revealed that he nearly signed for Barcelona back in 2010, before deciding to go to Real Madrid.

The German star made his mind up after the then Barca manager didn't meet him during a visit to the Nou Camp, in contrast to the VIP treatment Jose Mourinho gave him.

Topics: Football, Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Gerard Pique, Barcelona, La Liga, Premier League

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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