Sunday 10 April 2016 12:00, UK
Yaya Toure could invoke the Webster ruling and buy himself out of the final year of his Manchester City contract, his agent has reportedly said.
Toure's contract runs to the end of next season but his future is up in the air with the summer arrival of incoming boss Pep Guardiola - the man who sold him to City while Barcelona manager in 2010.
The Ivorian's agent Dimitri Seluk wants City to offer 32-year-old Toure - who signed an improved contract in 2013 - a new three-year deal or allow him to leave the club on a free transfer.
And Seluk has warned City that Toure could invoke article 17 of FIFA's transfer regulations, titled consequences of terminating a contract without just cause, and pay a compensation fee to buy himself out of his current deal.
"This is unacceptable," Seluk told the Sunday Mirror.
"A player like Yaya Toure should not be moving towards the last year of his contract wondering if he is going to get a new deal.
"He is 32. He has three or four years left at the top and City must tell Yaya now what they want to do.
"The best idea would be to give Yaya a three-year contract that will keep him at the club for the rest of his career. The second is to say 'thank you' and allow him to leave for nothing."
Relatively few players have followed the path of Scottish defender Andy Webster, who bought himself out of his Hearts contract in September 2006 to join Wigan.
Webster's move set a precedent, and Seluk says Toure will exploit the loophole which allows players to buy themselves out of their contract two years after it has been signed, provided they were over 28 at the time the deal was inked.
"I will not let Yaya waste a year at City," Seluk said. "I will not let City keep him because, in one more year, his chances of joining another big club will be smaller.
"I will go to FIFA. I will write to them and tell them that we will buy Yaya out of his contract.
"We can do this. It is an option. This is not a threat. I promise you that Yaya will leave City this summer one way or another if they don't offer him a new contract."
