Varoufakis: Tsipras wanted to sack central banker Stournaras well before assuming power

Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis' "tell-tale" book about his six-month tenure in office and the run-up to leftist SYRIZA's landslide election victory continues to generate intense scrutiny by the local press, with another revealing passage dealing with current Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras earning front-page coverage on Friday.

Although the book, published by Vintage, has been available for a couple of months, it has not been published in Greek as yet, meaning that the more tantalizing snippets are often reported by the local press in doses.

The narrative that the Athens daily "Ta Nea" features on its front-page on Friday has Varoufakis relating how Tsipras promised to cashier central banker Yannis Stournaras.

Varoufakis, who resigned ahead of the snap election in September 2015 after leading ineffective negotiations with creditors, claimed Tsipras had zeroed in on Stournaras months before he (Tsipras) assumed power in January 2015.

Varoufakis has his former political comrade saying that one of the first things he'll do in office is to ask for Stournaras, resignation, warning that, if need be, he'll toss the latter out of the central bank "shouting and kicking". 

The latter is included in a passage in Varoufakis' book, entitled "Adults in the Room".

The controversial Varoufakis adds that a trio of top SYRIZA cadres and current ministers were present when Tsipras made the comment, including current Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, who succeeded Varoufakis in the post.

"There are more drastic solutions to the problem," was the reply of Nikos Pappas, a current minister and close Tsipras confident, according to Varoufakis.

Although the Bank of Greece (BoG) president is appointed by the Greek parliament after a nomination by the government, once seated, a central banker enjoys autonomy, as per the ECB's bylaws.