Yaya Toure has vowed to remain at Manchester City and as he asked for an end to a summer of speculation largely begun by his agent.
Toure and his representative, Dimitri Seluk, spoke to Sky Sports News on Friday to confirm the Ivory Coast international's intention to honour his contract – that runs until 2017 – at the Etihad Stadium with the Premier League champions.
“The fans have always been good to me, they’ve always been good to my family,” the 31 year old said. “I want to stay. I will always honour my contract. I don’t think about all this speculation. It’s a big pleasure to stay and enjoy the next season.”
Seluk sparked speculation about Toure’s future just days after City lifted the league title for a second time in three seasons.
He claimed Toure was hurt by the club’s failure to mark the player’s birthday, despite a video on the club’s website showing Toure being presented with a birthday cake.
Further stories followed as Seluk claimed his client had been shown a lack of respect by City.
Toure was strongly linked with French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain before, and in recent days rivals Manchester United emerged as another possible destination.
But Toure, who was part of the Ivory Coast team that failed to get out of the group stages at the World Cup finals in Brazil last month, described the speculation as “disappointing”.
He said he owed a debt to City fans, and that he had no intention of departing the club, who he has been with since he signed from Barcelona in 2010 for a fee of £24 million (Dh150.6m).
“Everything is fine now,” he said. “There was a lot of speculation, you know. I think sometimes it’s quite disappointing.
“I need to do something for the fans, it’s important to let them know. They’ve done a lot for me. The team is preparing well and we will try to win again next season.”
Seluk spoke before Toure and said: “I would like to say Yaya will stay at City. He won’t go to any club. Everybody can stop speculation about this.
“Yaya will stay at Manchester City 100 per cent. He has a contract, he will work very hard and I hope this season he will be the best player in England.”
Although Seluk has been seen as the source of much of the speculation – something he has a history for starting most summers, even before Toure signed for City – Toure backed his agent’s behaviour and said he had no concerns.
“He’s quite strong sometimes, but he’s a very good guy,” he said. “To be honest, we never wanted to talk about money. There are more important things than money. To be happy, healthy. Respect as well is very important.”
Seluk was even able to laugh at some of the more surreal stories that have come out in recent weeks.
“I hope now everybody will have a very friendly relationship,” he said. “I hope his next birthday they will celebrate together.”
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