Granted it’s only July, but Yaya Toure has cooled off the rumors that he wants out of Manchester City.
Two months of apparent blather regarding dissatisfaction with City due to snubbed birthday celebrations and a dearth of flowers, found fuel added to the fire by The Daily Star’s report claiming that Manchester United had bid $68 million for the Ivory Coast superstar.
And according to Toure, it’s all a part of silly season.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Yaya says he’s ready to stay at the Etihad Stadium and defend his club’s Premier League title:“There has been a lot of speculation but they’ve always been good with me and good with my family,” he told Sky Sports News.
“I want to say that I will always honour my contract and stay as long as possible and don’t think about all the speculation saying that I’m leaving. For the fans for all they have done for me and the club as well, I need to say it’s a big pleasure to stay and continue and try to enjoy the next season.
“Everything is fine now. There was a lot of speculation about people sending me away and people were sending me everywhere.”
Well, everything is fine now. But it wasn’t before. Or it was. Or it wasn’t.
Perhaps his comments are coming on the heels of the Manchester United bid report. Certainly, Louis van Gaal’s efforts to return Manchester United to the UEFA Champions League would’ve been handed a huge boost by stealing a man from his rivals. Yaya Toure would also allow United to sell Wayne Rooney if they wanted, turning their attacking focus to a mix of Yaya, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie.
In any event, now it seems we can go back to praising the stellar midfielder’s play. And by that, we mean following his agent’s lead on whether racism is keeping Yaya from winning awards.