Business Standard

Agent says midfielder Yaya Toure will leave Man City

Image

IANS London

Four-time African footballer of the year Yaya Toure's agent has confirmed that the veteran midfielder will leave Manchester City this summer.

The 32-year-old's contract expires in June and that is set to bring an end to his six-year trophy-laden spell at the Manchester club.

Toure's agent, Dimitri Seluk, has been negotiating with City officials in recent weeks but they have decided to pursue interests elsewhere.

"He'll definitely leave Manchester City, I can calmly confirm that," Seluk was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk on Sunday.

"Various offers have arrived for Yaya and we're evaluating them, but no decision has been taken yet for next season."

 

Doubt was cast over Toure's City future with the announcement that Bayern Munich head coach Pep Guardiola is to take over from Manuel Pellegrini at the end of the season.

Guardiola was the coach who sold Toure to City from Barcelona in 2010. Toure was prepared to play for the incoming City coach, but has now made the decision to move on.

He would be happy to join another English Premier League (EPL) club and is likely to shun a big money move to China or the Middle East.

"Will the economic aspect make the difference? Absolutely not," Seluk said. "We don't put money before everything but the project the club presents us. The best will convince us."

Another option is reuniting with former City coach Roberto Mancini, who signed Toure at the start of his three-and-a-half year spell in charge of City, at Inter Milan, an idea Toure is open to.

Seluk added: "Inter? We're definitely talking about a great club and everyone knows about the relationship between Yaya and Mancini. But like I've already said we haven't made any decision yet.

"But I'll add that the Nerazzurri's project is great and Inter is a fantastic club. So it's normal that they want a player of this level."

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Apr 04 2016 | 5:26 PM IST

Explore News