Pellegrini dismisses suggestions that Yaya Toure is unhappy at Manchester City

Yaya Toure has worked under Manuel Pellegrini for 3 years.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has denied claims that Yaya Toure is unhappy at the club, despite the Ivory Coast international giving an interview in France hitting out at his treatment in England, as per the reports on Sky Sports. The manager has claimed that Toure is more than satisfied with the midfielder’s form.

The 32-year-old hit out at English media in an interview with L’Equipe for mentioning him only when his performances dip. Toure also claimed that he is ‘unhappy’ at Manchester despite everything he has achieved with the club ever since he arrived in 2010 from Barcelona.

Yesterday, the Ivory Coast captain was named in the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or and ahead of City’s encounter with Sevilla in the Champions League fixture, Pellegrini has denied the claims of him being unsettled and has insisted that he his star player had no problems at the club.

“Yaya is happy.” he said.

“He may have a few concerns about the criticism but that is different to being unhappy at the club. You can interpret his words how you want but I don’t think I have to answer for how happy Yaya is at Manchester City. The answer is his performances over the last four years he plays. He is a very important player and he demonstrates it every game.”

Aguero and De Bruyne named in the Ballon d’Or list

The Ivorian is not the only City player to feature in the Ballon d’Or shortlist. Other City players include Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero, who are among the 23 strong list of nominees for the prestigious award.

“Kevin made a very good season last year in Germany,” Pellegrini said complementing De Bruyne for his outstanding season with Wolfsburg last season.

“We hope he can win it, along with Sergio, but Sergio is now out for a month.”

Pellegrini also spoke about his star striker Aguero: "I don't think it is surprising 'Kun' has been nominated. It is surprising he has not had any awards here in the past. He is nominated because he is working well and performing well, playing at the highest level all the time."

Bony can play with or without Aguero: Pellegrini

Wilfried Bony and Sergio Aguero are the only two senior strikers in the Manchester City squad this season.

The Premier League table-toppers go on to their Champions League fixture without the Argentine ace man, but the Chilean coach has insisted that Wilfried Bony plays a crucial part in the squad and is more than capable of filling in the void left by Aguero.

“Obviously Aguero is very important to us but I have a policy of not making excuses for who is missing,” he said.

“We played well in the last game and that is what we must try to replicate, with or without Agüero. Bony can play with or without Aguero. He can line up alongside him if both are fit, it does not have to be that Agüero has to be missing for Bony to play.”

“For various reasons I have not been able to line them up together in the past, but we brought Bony here because he is an important player in his own right. He is the only forward we have at present so this is his moment, his chance to show what he has got.”