Yaya Toure says he remains committed to Manchester City after his agent claimed he was “very upset” over his treatment by the club’s owners on his birthday.<\/p>\n
The City midfielder tweeted: “Please do not take
\nwords that do not come out of my mouth seriously. Judge my commitment to City by my performances.”<\/p>\n
Dimitri Seluk had criticised City for marking Toure’s birthday with a tweet.<\/p>\n
He said the owners did not congratulate Toure personally, and that he could leave over their lack of respect.<\/p>\n
“None of them shook his hand on his birthday. It’s really sick,” Seluk told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n
City declined to comment officially but BBC Sport understands club officials are not too alarmed by Seluk’s claims.<\/p>\n
The agent also claimed Toure was unhappy last summer, shortly before he signed a new four-year contract.<\/p>\n
City gave Toure a birthday cake as they flew to Abu Dhabi and tweeted their congratulations after he turned 31 on 13 May, but Seluk says he was ignored by the club’s wealthy owners when the squad arrived in the United Arab Emirates last week to celebrate their Premier League title triumph.<\/p>\n
“He got a cake but when it was Roberto Carlos’s birthday, the president of Anzhi gave him a Bugatti,” Seluk told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n
“I don’t expect City to present Yaya with a Bugatti, we only asked that they shook his hand and said ‘we congratulate you’. It is the minimum they must do when it is his birthday and the squad is all together.<\/p>\n
“I hear one newspaper has written that City congratulated him from Twitter but this is a joke. It is better they don’t put anything on Twitter if they are not saying anything to him.<\/p>\n
“The club’s owners ate a 100kg cake after winning the Premier League this season but when
\nthey and the players were all together, none of them shook his hand on his birthday. It shows they don’t care about him.<\/p>\n
“Of course Yaya is upset about this.”<\/p>\n
Toure – who named his second child after Seluk – signed a four-year contract with City last summer but the agent, who has represented the player for more than a decade, insists the Ivorian could leave if they continue to “disrespect” him.<\/p>\n
Seluk is adamant he is not looking to negotiate an improved contract for Toure, saying: “No. Money is not important. He has enough money.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“I have spoken to him about leaving and we will see what happens, but, at the moment, Yaya is really upset.”<\/p>\n
It is not the first time either Toure or his agent have claimed the player does not get the respect he deserves.<\/p>\n
In a recent interview for the BBC, Toure said he felt he was not regarded as one of the best players in the world because he is from Africa.<\/p>\n
“Proper recognition has only come from the fans,” he said. “I don’t want to be hard and I don’t want to be negative, but I want to be honest.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n
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