32-year-old Yaya Toure might leave Manchester City at the end of this season after it was confirmed that Pep Guardiola will take over as their next manager, his agent has revealed in an interview with The Sun.
On Monday, City finally announced that Pep Guardiola, who let go Toure to Manchester City when he was the manager of Barcelona in 2010, would become the new manager in the summer.
And now Toure’s agent Dimitry Seluk claims he expected this will see his client would depart.
“I think Yaya will leave the club. But before leaving, I hope he will again win the league and all the cups,” he said.
“It’s not a question of whether Pep likes him or not. It’s life, you know.”
Bayern Munich boss Guardiola, who has signed a three-year contract, will replace Manuel Pellegrini, who has already revealed he would leave Etihad at the end of June.
Seluk also appeared to question Guardiola’s success and said: “Barcelona win because it’s like a big family, and their structure is an example for everybody.
“It’s not a question of personnel. Luis Enrique has done the same as Guardiola. It’s not possible to say forever that it’s the team of Guardiola.
“Yaya won every trophy in England without Guardiola. Will Guardiola win without Yaya?”
The 32-year-old Ivory Coast international still have one more year left on his current contract at the end of this season, which means he could be available for a cut-price transfer fee.
Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG and Italian giants Inter Milan have long been seen as Toure’s possible destinations.
Yaya Toure was one of the first to see his place grabbed by someone else when Guardiola took charge at Barcelona in 2008. The Spanish manager preferred an emerging Sergio Busquets in the holding midfield role and the Spaniard’s rise from Barcelona B team even led Toure to play as a centre-back during the 2009 Champions League final win against Manchester United. In total, the veteran midfielder played through 90 minutes only nine times during the following 2009/10 season before being sold to Manchester City for £24m.
As a matter of fact, where in the three midfield places he will play in Guardiola’s team? There is certainly no place. It’s just a matter of time Toure leaving Man City. But it will be because of his age and the style Guardiola likes to follow, instead of any falling out. It would be hard to pin point where he would feature in Pep’s squad.
Toure has been excellent for Man City, He has taken the Citizens to another level. He has won league titles with City and scored stunning goals. He is a totally different player at Manchester City to what he was at Barcelona. In Premier League his attacking skills, finishing, shooting from distance and running on the ball have been quite impressive. He’s been unplayable at times. He has also been a big player for City in their transformation period into the big time.