“You need to be honest, even if you hurt people, and there are some players here, I am not scared to say, who are not working hard enough for the team,” he was quoted as saying in the News of the World.

“Some don’t do enough in training but still expect to play.

“We all get big wages at City but some need to work harder.

“You cannot have a place in the team – even if you are an international – if you don’t show what you can do in training.

“As players, we have the best job in the world and if the manager said: ’You haven’t worked hard enough, you will only get half your wages this week’ it would make players fight harder.

“I’m a professional footballer and, to me, playing regularly is the most important thing. Money is secondary.”