Yaya Toure’s agent says midfielder could leave Manchester City if not shown more respect
YAYA Toure confirms his agent’s tantrum over City’s lack of birthday love is true - sparking a frenzy of social media fun poked at the star.
YAYA Toure’s agent has warned Manchester City they could face losing the midfielder if they don’t show him more respect.
RUMOUR MILL: CRAZY YAYA TO QUIT OVER BIRTHDAY SNUB?
The Premier League champions are in Qatar to continue their title celebrations, but their fans will have been shocked as news of Toure’s anger over a perceived lack of respect from the club’s staff was revealed earlier this week.
The Daily Mail and Daily Mirror report that Manchester City will block any attempt to force a move, but after initially playing down reports of any problems on Twitter, Toure took a different tact on Wednesday morning (EST) on Twitter and came out swinging, supporting the comments made by his agent.
He tweeted: “My agent was trying to make a point here on my behalf, joke aside. It seems important for me to make a statement..i am going to do so.”
“Everything dimitry said is true. He speaks for me. I will give an interview after World Cup to explain.”
The 31-year-old Ivory Coast international is upset with staff, not the players at the Etihad, who forgot his birthday on May 13, with his agent saying that the midfielder had still to receive an apology or explanation from the club and also suggested that there were longer term issues to sort out.
When asked if Toure would still be at City after the World Cup, agent Dimitri Seluk said: “I don’t know. Yaya will speak personally to staff and after that we will make a decision.
“You cannot buy a relationship. They must do it from the heart. My opinion is if player like Yaya gives everything to a club then the club must respect him.
“But nobody has apologised from the staff yet. If they don’t want Toure then he can leave at any moment, no problem. Yaya is concentrating on the World Cup but if Man City is not respecting the player how can he be motivated to play for that team?
The club tweeted their congratulations on his 31st birthday on May 13 but Seluk says his client was ignored by the club’s owners when the squad arrived in the United Arab Emirates as part of their Premier League celebrations.
Seluk told the BBC on Tuesday: “He got a cake but when it was Roberto Carlos’ birthday, the president of Anzhi gave him a Bugatti [sports car]. I don’t expect City to present Yaya with a Bugatti, we only asked that they shook his hand and said, ‘We congratulate you.’
“The club’s owners ate a 100kg cake after winning the Premier League this season but when they and the players were all together, none of them shook his hand on his birthday. It shows they don’t care about him. None of them shook his hand on his birthday. It’s really sick.
“If this happened to you as a journalist in the BBC and nobody shakes your hand, you will say bye-bye and go to work for somebody else. It is normal.”
Good to see some other clubs haven’t made the same mistake!