Yaya Touré was unhappy at the end of last season that Manchester City did not give him a birthday cake.
Yaya Touré will not be offered a new deal despite the midfielder’s disquiet at the close of last season, when his agent complained Manchester City had not given him a birthday cake.
While Touré’s unhappiness may have been viewed as a way of improving his £220,000-a-week salary, the club are holding firm. Although Edin Dzeko is expected to agree fresh terms next week – and Joe Hart at some point in the future – to join Sergio Agüero, David Silva and Vincent Kompany, who all did so in the past few days, Touré will not be among them.
As the Ivorian will be 33 when his current contract expires in two years, the champions feel there is no rush regarding prolonging his stay at the club.
Asked if the renewed commitment to City of Silva, Agüero, Kompany and Samir Nasri – who also signed a fresh contract this summer – showed the champions’ ambition, Manuel Pellegrini said: “Yes. I think it is very important for the club to retain the best players. I think it is also important for the club that they want to stay here because they are working very well and this is a club that has a lot of ambition for the future. They understand that and maybe you will know in the next few days about other players who extend their contracts.”
Asked if Touré may be one, the manager would not be drawn. “We will see in the next days,” he said, though it is understood that Pellegrini was referring to Dzeko and not Touré.
In the close season Dimitry Seluk, Touré’s agent, claimed: “The club’s owners ate a 100kg cake after winning the Premier League this season but when they and the players were all together, none of them shook his hand on his birthday. It shows they don’t care about him.”
Pellegrini refused to say whether the incident had been an embarrassment. “I think that at this moment it is not important,” he said. The Chilean also straight-batted questions about whether Touré was now more settled. “Really, I spoke with Yaya and he’s very happy,” said Pellegrini. “I don’t know what happened in the summer. Some people talked about his position but really at this moment he doesn’t have any problems. It has passed. It doesn’t matter at this moment.”
With City having added Eliaquim Mangala for £32m, Fernando for £12m, Bacary Sagna on a free transfer, Willy Caballero for £6m and Frank Lampard on a half-season loan, Pellegrini believes his squad is far stronger than last season’s title-winners. “Maybe. If you ask me, I say yes, we are a stronger squad than last year. That doesn’t mean that because we won the title last year, we are going to win the title this season more easily. But I think we brought in important players who have made our squad stronger.
“We try to have a stronger squad than this year. Last year we had a very good squad and a very successful year but that is the past, that is history. Now we must try this year to have a strong squad and I think that arriving important players as Willy Caballero, as Sagna, as Mangala, as Fernando, as Frank Lampard will make us a strong squad.”
Agüero is a doubt for Sunday’s trip to Newcastle United due to his lack of match fitness and Mangala is unavailable. The manager said: “Mangala needs to work more with the team to be able to play. It will not be this weekend.”
Caballero was bought to provide serious competition to Hart but Pellegrini hinted that the England No1 will start on Sunday. “It’s not difficult [the decision], it has been very easy for me. Willy Caballero played in the Community Shield because he worked for around 33 days in pre-season and Joe Hart just seven or eight days,” he said.
Despite Manchester United finishing seventh last season Pellegrini thinks the club will again challenge. “I think you always must expect that Manchester United must be a rival because, if you see the last 10 years, they were always fighting for the title,” he said. “Maybe last year was an exception, but it is a very important team and club and they are always fighting for the title. I suppose this year they are going to do it also.”
