Toure on verge of shock City exit after 'sick' birthday snub
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 11: The Manchester City Manager Manuel Pellegrini and Yaya Toure pose with the trophy at the end of the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium on May 11, 2014 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Yaya Toure http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/Yaya_Toure , a star of Manchester City's title-winning side this season, is threatening to force a move from the Etihad Stadium this summer after being upset by the club's failure to mark his 31st birthday sufficiently.
On a day of farce surrounding the Ivory Coast midfielder, Toure denied, then confirmed claims by his agent that he was unhappy at the club.
With City robustly rejecting the possibility of Toure being sold or offered a new contract, the prospect of an acrimonious battle between club and player has been raised by the incredible comments of his Russian adviser, Dimitri Seluk.
BITTERLY
'Yaya is so upset, he is thinking of leaving City,' Seluk said. 'A number of things have happened that have left Yaya feeling bitterly upset. City have really hurt him.
'What happened at his birthday meant the club don't care about him. It was proof. They can say whatever they want, 'Oh we like him, but we forgot'. None of them shook his hand on his birthday.
'It's really sick. 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. They don't know that money can't buy relationships - no sheikh can buy a relationship.'
Toure has complained on more than one occasion this season that his ability is overlooked because he is African.
Toure appeared to rubbish Seluk's claims by issuing a response via his Twitter account: 'Thanks for all the birthday messages today. Card from City just arrived Must have got lost in the post. Haha.
'Jokes aside. Please do not take words that do not come out of MY mouth seriously. Judge my commitment to @MCFC by my performances,' he tweeted.
However, within an hour of those conciliatory tweets, Toure reignited the furore by suggesting Seluk was indeed speaking on his behalf by criticising City's treatment of him.
'Everything dimitry said is true,' Toure tweeted. 'He speaks for me. I will give an interview after world cup to explain.'
With Toure having signed a four-year contract in April 2013, senior figures at the Etihad have privately insisted that the former Barcelona http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/FC_Barcelona player will not be sold and that no new talks will take place to discuss an improvement to his deal.