Yaya Toure latest: Manchester City midfielder claims he wants to stay with Premier League champions for 'as long as possible'

The Ivory Coast international looks to have ended any talk of a summer exit

Yaya Toure could leave Manchester City in the summer, claims his agent (Getty Images)

Yaya Toure has provided Manchester City with a massive boost by reaffirming his commitment to the Premier League champions and claiming he wants to stay at the club for "as long as possible".

The Ivory Coast international sparked talk of an exit shortly after the conclusion of the season when his agent Dimitry Seluk suggested the 31-year-old felt he had been treated disrespectfully by the club. Amongst the supposed grips was that the club had failed to mark his birthday adequately.

With Toure leaving for the World Cup with his future uncertain, he then suffered the heartache of losing his younger brother Ibrahim to cancer. The Ivory Coast's campaign in Brazil did little to lift the spirits with the African nation exiting at the group stage.

However the former Barcelona midfielder now feels composed and ready to focus on City again.

"It was not a case of leaving the club. It was difficult because my situation was quite difficult," he told the club's official website.

"For me I was always quiet and my decision, if you want to say it like that, is that I will stay at Manchester City for as long as possible."

Given he was the linchpin in City's title winning midfield last year that will be music to the ears of their fans who are hoping they can do it all again and also push on in Europe.

Toure, who signed a new four-year deal last season, is also targeting more trophies and wants to see reinforcements arrive in the next few weeks to make it easier to fight on multiple fronts.

"I hope a couple of players sign in because we need to try to build a massive club because if we want to be the best we need to win every trophy possible," he added.

"We are looking for the Champions League - that is an important title this year and the Premier League is going to be a battle as well between Chelsea, United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool too.

"I think it's going to be very open. We know we are the team to beat but we have the confidence and we have the fantastic players coming and I hope this year's going to be the same."