Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Out-of-favour Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure will play no part in Manchester City’s Champions League group stage matches after being left out of the squad named on Friday.
The 33-year-old’s sole appearance for City this season has been in the 1-0 victory over Romanian outfit Steaua Bucharest in the second leg of the Champions League play-offs.
Manager Pep Guardiola, who coached him at Barcelona, has deemed him surplus to requirements for the group stage.
City could not include more than 17 non-homegrown players in their Champions League squad and Guardiola still has 18 at his disposal, despite four foreign internationals, Frenchmen Samir Nasri and Eliaquim Mangala among them, leaving before Wednesday’s transfer deadline.
Teams can name up to 25 players in their Champions League squad but City’s lack of homegrown players meant they were only permitted to name a squad of 21.
City have been drawn in Group C with Barcelona, German side Borussia Moenchengladbach and Scottish champions Celtic.
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