Yaya Toure’s outspoken agent Dimitri Seluk has threatened English Premier League club Manchester City, saying that he will buy his client out of his contract in order to leave and play for another club, if the Ivorian is not offered an extension to his current contract.
Toure started Man City’s 1-0 UEFA Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain from the bench on Tuesday, coming on in the 84th minute to add a few minutes to his tally following a comeback from injury.
Coach Manuel Pellegrini said that the Ivorian was not picked in the starting lineup due to his knee injury recovery, but in previous years the talented midfielder would be picked as a starter the moment he was fit enough to take part.
They secured their first ever UEFA Champions League semi-final thanks to a 3-2 aggregate win over PSG, so Toure will have a chance to play in the last four of the competition, if he is selected to take part.
The midfielder seemed destined to leave the Etihad Stadium last season, with his agent suggesting that he had one foot out the door, and a selection of clubs including Italian Serie A giants Inter Milan keen on Toure’s services, but no move materialised and Toure stayed in Manchester.
His agent is once again suggesting that a move away from Manchester is an inevitability, saying that his client will not remain at the club if a new contract is not forthcoming.
“I will not let Yaya waste a year at City,” Seluk recently told The Mirror. “I will not let City keep him because, in one more year, his chances of joining another big club will be smaller,” he added.
“I will go to FIFA. I will write to them and tell them that we will buy Yaya out of his contract. We can do this. It is an option. This is not a threat. I promise you that Yaya will leave City this summer one way or another if they don’t offer him a new contract,” Toure’s agent explained.
The 32-year-old made his move from Barcelona to Man City in 2010, for a fee of $34.2 million, and has been a pillar of strength in the midfield, contributing in attack and defence.
The four-time African Player of the Year was a target for Inter Milan last season, and it seems that Serie A rivals Juventus could be interested in the Ivorian midfielder, according to FootballItalia.
