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Yaya Toure could leave Manchester City because club did not recognise his 31st birthday

Toure's agent Dimitry Seluk has claimed talk of a summer transfer is 'not a question of money of contract' but because an Abu Dhabi party clashed with Toure's

Staff,Jack de Menezes
Tuesday 20 May 2014 14:58 BST
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Yaya Toure could leave Manchester City in the summer, claims his agent
Yaya Toure could leave Manchester City in the summer, claims his agent (Getty Images)

Yaya Toure's agent claims the Ivory Coast midfielder may leave Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City this summer.

Dimitry Seluk claims City have not made Toure feel valued and appreciated, especially on his 31st birthday which clashed with a party in Abu Dhabi to celebrate City's title triumph.

Seluk told The Sun: "There's a big possibility Yaya will leave this summer.

"What happened at his birthday meant the club don't care about him. It was proof.

"In a normal team, his team-mates and club would at least give him good wishes.

"He's very upset and he started thinking of leaving the club. And he will leave if things carry on like this.

"It's not a question of money or contract, believe me. He has everything he needs. For Yaya what is the most important thing is human relationships.

"When your best worker has his birthday from time to time it's not bad to shake his hand. To make him feel valued and appreciated. They don't give any attention to Yaya."

But it appears that Toure did not check his Twitter account, as the club sent a message out to their 1.73m followers wishing Toure a happy birthday. And just incase he missed it, they even tagged the Ivorian's personal account into the post.

Toure signed a new four-year deal with City last season.

The club also presented a birthday cake for Toure while the squad flew to the Middle East for an end-of-season friendly, although the midfielder didn't even seem to notice as he watched his laptop with his headphones on.

Despite the applauding of Samir Nasri, who was sitting next to Toure, the midfielder appeared unmoved, and the flight attendant who began to sing "Happy Birthday to you" continued even though Toure remained unmoved.

Adding to his earlier comments, Seluk revealed that Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala presented World Cup winner Roberto Carlos with a Bugatti supercar on his birthday, but that all Toure wanted was a shake of the hand.

He told the BBC: "None of them shook his hand on his birthday. It's really sick you know.

"He got a cake but when it was Roberto Carlos's birthday, the president of Anzhi gave him a Bugatti.

"I don't expect City to present Yaya with a Bugatti, we only asked that they shook his hand and said 'we congratulate you'. It is the minimum they must do when it is his birthday and the squad is all together.

A Bugatti Veyron, the model of car said to have been given as a birthday present to Carlos

"It is an important human relationship to shake hands and say 'happy birthday' but nobody did it to Yaya. It shows they don't care about him.

"I hear one newspaper has written that City congratulated him from Twitter but this is a joke. It is better they don't put anything on Twitter if they are not saying anything to him.

"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.

"If they don't respect him, then easy - Yaya will leave. No problem.".

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