Nathan Redmond corroborated Pep Guardiola's claim that he was simply praising the winger's talents when the pair appeared to exchange words after Manchester City's last-gasp win over Southampton on Wednesday.
City scored a late winner in the 2-1 triumph at the Etihad Stadium thanks to Raheem Sterling's stunning goal, but much of the attention after the match was on another incident.
Guardiola was seen appearing to confront Redmond after the full-time whistle, acting aggressively towards the winger, which he later insisted was only him showing his admiration for the Saints midfielder.
Reports began circulating on Thursday that Guardiola had actually aimed foul and abusive language at Redmond, who felt the need to step forward and corroborate the Spaniard's recollection of events.
He wrote on his official Twitter profile: "I've just seen this story and felt I had to say something and clear a few things that are floating around right now.
"I want to make it absolutely clear that the Man City manager, Pep Guardiola, did not say what The Sun is falsely claiming in this story.
"Yes, he was very passionate, intense and aggressive, but he was only very complimentary and positive to me.
"He commented on my qualities as a young English player and how he wanted me to attack his team more during the game in a similar way to last season.
"I told him I was doing what my manager had asked me to do in the game. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Nothing negative or offensive was said towards me from Pep and that's what makes him one of the best managers in world football.
"Losing the game the way we did in the last kick of the game after working so hard for 90+ minutes I was very disappointed, but when one of the world's best managers compliments you or gives advice in any way, you listen.
"Sadly this story is an example of lazy journalism and a complete joke. It does no favours to the sports journalists in the game that I like, happily work with and genuinely respect."
