Yaya Toure backs agent over claims that he is looking to leave Manchester City

Yaya Toure sending mixed signals about his future

After initially distancing himself from the words of his agent Dimitry Seluk, who claimed that his client was “very upset”, Yaya Touré has thrown yet more spanner into the works by confirming that he is considering leaving Manchester City this summer.

The Ivory Coast midfielder’s agent told BBC earlier on Tuesday that his client was unhappy that “none of them shook his hand on his birthday” and that his client was considering leaving the club. Many thought that this was nothing, especially after Seluk made similar complaints last year before Touré signed a four-year extension to his current contract that pocketed him a tidy £220,000-a-week.

His agent cited the example of Roberto Carlos, when the former Anzhi defender was presented with a Bugatti on his birthday. Seluk also went onto say that “Money is not important. He has enough money. 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 31-year-old Touré then took to Twitter to explain the entire situation. After initially distancing himself from his agents’ comments, he took a U-turn an hour later.

These were his initial tweets after his agents comments that he was unhappy.

This was his reaction an hour later, when he took a completely different stance.

Touré, who scored 24 goals in all competitions for Manchester City last season and helped them win the Premier League and the League Cup turned 31 last week. Should City lose out on their most influential player because of the lack of congratulating the player on his birthday, it will dramatically alter the landscape of the League next season.

Although City haven’t officially given out a statement yet, it remains to be seen, how they manage to wriggle their way out of this tight rope so soon after the euphoria of winning the Premier League.