Yaya Toure tells critics he's not 'back' at Manchester City as he was 'always there'

Ivorian starred in club's opening victory

Charles Reynolds
Tuesday 11 August 2015 14:53 BST
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Yaya Toure
Yaya Toure (GETTY IMAGES)

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Yaya Toure has issued a response to his critics that he is not 'back' at Manchester City, because as far as he is concerned he never went away.

The midfielder drew heavy criticism last season after not being at his best, but was the star of the show as City routed West Brom 3-0 on Monday night.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini effectively admitted that Toure had been disappointing last campaign, saying after the West Brom victory that he was "sure we are going to see the same Yaya we saw two seasons ago".

However Toure denied that his standards had slipped last season, issuing an angry response to his critics which you could say included his own manager.

"I know what I have to do and I don't care what people say about me," Toure said. "I'm not back – I'm always there.

"It's about the team. West Brom have a good manager and players. Full credit to all our team. We made it easy because we played our own football, we played with belief and intensity."

City will need Toure to be at his best in their next game, they take on defending champions Chelsea.

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