Manchester City: Yaya Toure looking to sign pre-contract with a European club in January, insists Ivorian's agent

Toure has been cut adrift by the City manager this season and is yet to appear in the league

Samuel Stevens
Monday 05 September 2016 15:29 BST
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Yaya Toure has enjoyed limited opportunities under Pep Guardiola
Yaya Toure has enjoyed limited opportunities under Pep Guardiola (Getty)

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Yaya Toure will consider signing a pre-contract agreement with another European club in January after Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola neglected to name the Ivorian in his squad for the Champions League group stage.

The 33-year-old has been cut adrift by the new City manager this season but he is nonetheless likely to attract interest from across the continent after being crowned as African Football of the Year on four occasions.

Toure’s contract at the Etihad expires at the end of the current campaign and - with little indication that his fortunes are likely to improve under Guardiola’s rule - agent Dimitri Seluk has once again lashed out at his client’s treatment by the four-time champions of England.

“They will lose a lot of millions of supporters from Africa because of this decision from Guardiola,” Seluk told the Daily Mail. “Now they will support Manchester United. A lot of people in Africa say they will never see any more matches of City on TV.”

Toure was famously allowed to leave Barcelona in 2010 during Guardiola’s four-year spell at the Nou Camp and his agent insists that he lost seven kilograms of weight in an attempt to impress the Catalan ahead of his arrival in the North West this summer.

“Yaya in January can sign a pre-contract agreement with clubs abroad,” Seluk added. “He will have many offers from clubs. China and America of course they want him but we will have a lot of offers from England and Europe.

“He is in very good shape, very good condition, I think he lost seven kilograms. Maybe that’s not good enough for Guardiola, but then Zlatan Ibrahimovic wasn’t good enough for him.

“In January we will see. It is three months to wait — no problem. Yaya is a very professional guy.”

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