It's time for Yaya Toure to leave Manchester City

It all began last year with the birthday fiasco. Yaya Toure turned 31 and was upset with Manchester City for not acknowledging the four-time African Player of the Year on his special day. His agent, Dimitri Seluk, spoke about how disrespectful it was to his client and that they were looking for another club who would appreciate the Ivory Coast captain more.

Fast forward to this spring and Seluk is at it again. But this time he’s reacting to reports that the Citizens plan to move players like Samir Nasri, Jesus Navas and Toure to bring in younger talent to rebuild.

“We have had different offers for Yaya but we must speak to Manchester City. People think he will stay because of money but we don’t care about money. If Man City don’t want him, no problem. I want someone to say that they want Yaya to stay at Manchester City. Yaya is a legend at the club. All the supporters like him, he’s helped them make history,” Seluk said to Sky Sports News.

The supporters may appreciate the 2015 African Cup of Nations winner for what he did in the past but they seem to be fed up with his shenanigans. During Manchester City’s match against Aston Villa yesterday, the club’s 2014 Player of the Year suffered a hamstring injury. When it was announced that he would be replaced by Fernandinho, the home crowd seemed very excited for the 2008-09 Champions League winner to be taken off the pitch. Even though last year’s Premier League champions have unlimited resources, the fans of the side still represent the blue-collar side of town and they don’t seem to appreciate a millionaire constantly complaining about his feelings being hurt. Kolo’s, Liverpool defender, little brother spoke earlier in the week about his current situation.

“I won’t stay where I’m not wanted. No amount of wages will make me stay at a club if I feel that I no longer belong there or if no challenge exists for me. When things are not necessarily going well in a club, the key players take the fall. I am not the only one to have been attacked even if there is tendency to be harsher with me. Football is my passion, my job and that gives me two good reasons to do as well as I can. I accept criticism if it helps me to improve and I ignore them when their aim is simply to break me,” said Toure to Foot Mercato.

Toure must understand why he’s been in the transfer rumor mill. Last season was the best of his career as he scored 24 goals in 49 appearances but this season he’s registered only nine goals in 34 appearances. The box-to-box midfielder has enjoyed attacking more than defending in the last three seasons and his club signed defensive midfielders Fernando and Fernandinho to allow Toure to express himself more in the final third but his quality has diminished this season. Most likely it could be because of injury issues plus having to play in the World Cup last summer and then the African Cup of Nations during the winter. The Citizens’ manager Manuel Pellegrini, whose future with the club is also being heavily discussed, defended Toure yesterday while also being upset with his agent.

“In a club, especially a big club, you have a problem every day. You always have problems, you have to manage them in the best way you can. It’s impossible to tell every agent of the 22 players what they must say and not say. Everyone can say what they want. It’s important to know here inside the club what we want. I always trust in Yaya, he’s a very important player for us. He’s absolutely involved in our project. As every player, he has bad and good moments, but at this moment he deserves to be the captain,” said Pellegrini to the press after their win.

The summer is always full of endless subplots due to the transfer window being open but with Manchester City’s title defense failure, more things seem likely to happen with the club. It may be time for Toure to go and ply his trade elsewhere because he and Seluk have been complaining about not being appreciated for too long and the club need to infuse their starting eleven with new blood. The breakup seems inevitable but at least they’ll always have the good times to remember when it wasn’t all about drama.