Yaya Touré has sent shockwaves through Manchester City after claiming ‘everything is open’ in regards to his future.
Yesterday it emerged the Ivorian powerhouse was unhappy with his employers after his agent, Dimitry Seluk, claimed they did not congratulate him on his 31st birthday.
He said the African Player of the Year did not feel ‘valued’ and ‘appreciated’.
He also claimed the snub made Touré ‘very upset’ and that he started thinking of leaving the club.
When footage emerged showing City players singing happy birthday, Seluk claimed the birthday celebrations simply weren’t good enough.
“He got a cake but when it was Roberto Carlos’s birthday, the president of (Russian side) Anzhi (Makhachkala) gave him a Bugatti,” he told BBC Sport.
“I don’t expect City to present Yaya with a Bugatti, we only asked that they shook his hand and said ’we congratulate you’.
“It is the minimum they must do when it is his birthday and the squad is all together.
“Of course Yaya is upset about this. It is his birthday and nobody said anything or shook his hand, so he does not feel comfortable.
“The most important thing is a human relationship and maybe this is his opportunity for Yaya to find that. If City don’t respect him, then easy – Yaya will leave. No problem.”
The Ivorian signed a four-year contract with City last year, however Europe’s top clubs will be on high alert for the £250,000-a-week star.
City chiefs will be even more concerned after the 31-year-old, who scored 20 goals Premier League goals last season, said ‘everything is open’ when it comes to his future.
In an interview with global broadcaster beIN SPORTS, Touré said: “Because of the brilliant season Man City have had, everybody is talking about me and everything is open.”
Asked if he could be playing for another club, he replied: “Yes. We never know in football. We never know.
“My agent, Dimitri, is always on the phone and he knows what he has to do because I trust him a lot.
“We don’t know tomorrow, but my focus is on the World Cup and at the end of the World Cup we will see what happens.”
Touré had tried to quash the story on his Twitter account earlier in the day, joking that the card from City had just arrived, and ‘must have got lost in the post’.
Two middle tweets deleted from @Toure_yaya42 timeline pic.twitter.com/39dlhnGRsz
— Gordon Hyslop (@ManCunian56) May 20, 2014
A further Tweet, which was later deleted, said people shouldn’t believe stories unless they came from his mouth.
He then Tweeted: “Everything dimitry said is true . He speaks for me . I will give an interview after world cup to explain.”
Image courtesy of MCFCcompilations2, via YouTube with thanks.
