Tuesday 2 February 2016 11:45, UK
Confirmation that Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager next season sparked a buzz of excitement on deadline day. However, it would be understandable if Yaya Toure's reaction to the news was more muted.
"I don't know what Guardiola's plans are, but, after what happened at Barcelona, of course it is a worry that when [Pep] comes Yaya will be out. I hope not and Yaya hopes not."
Dimitri Seluk, Toure's agent, alluded to potential problems earlier this month. The future of one of Man City's star men seems unclear.
The Ivory Coast international was one of the first to lose his place when Guardiola took charge at Barcelona in 2008. The manager preferred an emerging Sergio Busquets in the holding role and the youngster's rise from Barcelona's B team even led to Toure playing centre-back during the 2009 Champions League final victory over Manchester United.
In total, Toure completed 90 minutes just nine times during the following 2009/10 campaign before being sold to Man City for £24m.
So what does Guardiola's arrival mean for Toure this time? Can he fit into the Spaniard's trademark style of play? Or will the midfielder be on his way come the summer? We spoke to Sky Sports Spanish football pundit Terry Gibson to get the expert view…
Why did Toure leave Barcelona?
"A lot of people are going to make the guess that Toure fell out with Pep. I think Pep just trusted Busquets more. We didn't know Busquets at the time. But Pep had been the B team manager and he knew what Busquets could do and he trusted him from the start.
"Compared to Busquets, Toure was more of a box-to-box player. It was actually hard to pin down Toure's best position - attacking midfield, defensive midfield, he even filled in at centre back in the Champions League final. He played all three positions really well. But over the years Busquets has proved that Pep was right to trust him.
"There was big money involved in the move, as well. City's offer was too good for Barcelona to turn down - and one Toure couldn't turn down himself, financially."
Why did Pep prefer Busquets?
"Yaya was all action, all over the pitch. But Busquets was quite happy to sacrifice himself and do a job a lot of people don't recognise. I think he's the best midfield player in the world of that type. He's a really intelligent player and is quite happy to play there, not score loads of goals or make loads of headlines and let others take the glory. He just keeps picking up trophy after trophy for club and country. And neither could do without him.
"He's a totally different player to Yaya Toure and I think Pep would want another player like that at Man City, to play that defensive holding midfield role. It's not just the defensive side, either. It's about getting the ball out of the back. Busquets is quite happy to receive the ball off the centre-backs under pressure and work his way out of trouble before feeding it to the likes of Andres Iniesta."
Could Yaya fit into a Pep team now?
I do think Toure will leave Man City. But it will be because of his age and the style Pep likes to play, rather than because of any falling out.
"No, I don't think so. I don't see where in the three midfield places he'd play.
"I do think Toure will leave Man City. But it will be because of his age and the style Pep likes to play, rather than because of any falling out. It would be hard to pin down where he would play in Pep's team in the Premier League.
"Toure has been brilliant for Man City - we shouldn't forget that. He's taken them to another level. He's won league titles with them and scored big goals. He's a totally different player at Man City to what he was at Barcelona. At Man City his attacking skills, finishing, shooting from distance and running with the ball have been really impressive. He's been unplayable at times.
"He's been a big player for City in their transformation into the big time. But I do feel it's time for both him and City to make a change."
Where next for Toure?
"There will be plenty of Champions League teams interested in him. But when he gets to that age, the money is in other parts of the world - USA , the Middle East, China. It depends what Toure wants to take on.
"I'm sure many big clubs in Europe would still like him. But his salary would be quite prohibitive to most clubs, as well as his age. At 32 you do start to slow down a bit and I'd be surprised if another Premier League club had the money to keep him here.
"He gets quite a bit of criticism but I think he's been a terrific signing. If you want to buy him and make him into a box-to-box midfielder who does the nitty gritty stuff, you're wasting your time. But when you look at the matches he's won for Man City, the cup finals and out-of-the-blue late equalisers and spectacular goals, he's been a brilliant signing for City."
