It looks increasingly likely that Yaya Toure is facing the end of his Manchester City career, with his agent revealing the player is almost certain to move on.
The Ivory Coast international joined the Blues in the summer of 2010 in a £24million transfer from Barcelona, and he has gone on to become one of the most important players in the club’s history. Having gone 35 years without silverware, Toure scored the winning goals in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester United, and in the final against Stoke City.
If that wasn’t enough to cement his status as an idol, he scored some vital goals as City won the title in 2012, and last season he recorded 20 strikes as Manuel Pellegrini’s team regained the crown from their Manchester rivals. And just for good measure, he also set the Blues up for League Cup glory when he scored the equaliser in the 3-1 final win over Sunderland.
But over the past few transfer windows Toure’s name hasn’t been far from the speculation pages, with his agent often intimating he is ready to move on for a fresh challenge. And there was also the furore last season when the club reportedly forgot to wish him a happy birthday, which was met with hilarity in some quarters yet was a source of frustration at the Etihad Stadium.
Paris Saint Germain are thought to be willing to offer the 31-year-old a lucrative move to the French capital, whilst Internazionale, coached by former City boss Roberto Mancini, have made no secret of their admiration. And agent Dimitri Seluk told Sky Sports: “It’s 90% certain he’ll leave Manchester City this summer. Nothing has been decided – we are waiting until the end of the season.”
It certainly seems like being a busy summer at City, whose defence of the Premier League title has been a huge disappointment as they currently stand 13 points behind champions Chelsea. As well as Toure, James Milner is expected to leave when his contract expires in June, and there could even be a change in the dugout due to Pellegrini’s failure to further add to the honours list.
As good as he is he seems to be linked with a transfer every summer, so is now the time for Manchester City to wash their hands of Yaya Toure?
