Manchester City’s Yaya Touré open to ‘new challenges’ at end of season

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/21/yaya-toure-manchester-city-new-challenges-psg

Version 0 of 1.

Yaya Touré’s Manchester City future is in the balance after he stated he is open to “new challenges”, although there is no certainty the midfielder will leave the champions in the close season. He also described Paris Saint-Germain as “a great club”.

Touré has had an uneven campaign for City but he was among the best performers in Sunday’s 2-0 win over West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium. The 31-year-old, who has two years left on his contract, insists money does not concern him but being challenged does.

“Since I started playing football, I had a dream as a little boy. Today, I am living the dream of thousands of little boys. I represent my continent, Africa, and that has no price. No amount of wages will make me stay at a club if I feel that I no longer belong there or if no challenge exists for me,” he told Foot Mercato.

Related: Wolfsburg’s Kevin De Bruyne still open to Manchester City move, says agent

“It would be unjust on my part. There comes a moment where numbers don’t stop us, it goes beyond that, even if the English press seem more interested in the numbers than the sport itself. For the future, I don’t know more than you do because I will always go where I am offered new challenges. That is in my nature.”

PSG are potential suitors, with Touré stating in an interview with a French radio station last year that “you never close the door to a big club.”

He said: “In the past I have given my opinion on PSG, which went on to inspire a lot of your journalist colleagues. PSG is a great club that has not finished growing and also a big club where any great player can find a place for themselves and make a contribution.”

Touré’s Ivory Coast team-mate, Serge Aurier, who plays for PSG on loan from Toulouse, also revealed they had spoken about the club. “We talked a little bit,” the right-back said. “No one can refuse Paris. He is tempted by Paris but I don’t do the negotiations. After discussing with him, he sees himself at Paris one day.”

Touré has been singled out as the cause of City’s failings this season. “When things are not necessarily going well in a club, the key players take the fall,” he said. “I am not the only one to have been attacked, even if there is tendency to be harsher with me. Football is my passion, my job and that gives me two good reasons to do as well as I can. I accept criticism if it helps me to improve and I ignore it when the aim is simply to break me.

“When I arrived at City, [Manuel] Pellegrini was not the coach. Just like the players, managers arrive and leave. As I have said before, I owe it to the City fans to fight just until the end of my career at this club, just as much as I owe it to myself and my continent. My decisions will not be affected by changes in management but more by the challenges that will be offered to me.”

Roberto Mancini, Internazionale’s coach and his former City manager, would also like to sign Touré. “Mancini is a mentor for me, he is a special coach,” the midfielder said. “It is no secret that I loved the time when he was boss here, like I love playing for City today.”

The agent of Kevin De Bruyne, a summer target for City, has said the Belgium midfielder’s future remains undecided, despite reports he is likely to join Bayern Munich for about £45m with PSG also retaining an interest. Patrick De Koster, his representative, said: “There are no formal discussions. In the next few weeks I will be going around the world to talk about the situation with Kevin but this is just informal information.

“I will talk to everybody but Kevin is very happy with Wolfsburg and the way they have treated him since he arrived from Chelsea last year. There are still five games to play and hopefully they can make sure of a place in the Champions League next season, so it is a little bit too early to be making any decisions.”

De Koster denied any contact from Manchester United. “I have met the people from Manchester City and we know each other,” he said. “I’ve never spoken to anyone from Manchester United.” Asked how much it may cost to sign De Bruyne, De Koster added: “I don’t know. Wolfsburg paid €24m to Chelsea, so I can see it being a lot more than that.”