Yaya Toure has been through one of the hardest seasons of his career, having fallen out of the plans of new manager Pep Guardiola of Manchester City in the middle of the recently concluded season. However, he has shown his mettle and has made a valiant fight against the odds to place himself in a position to regain the confidence of the City manager.
Reportedly, the veteran midfielder is on the verge of being offered a new deal with the club. The club’s chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has been much impressed with Toure’s display and wants him to stay back with them for some more time. He has said that he considers the Ivory Coast international as an integral part of the team and hopes that he stays back at the Etihad for the coming season as well.
The current Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has a prior experience of working with Yaya Toure from his days at Barcelona. However, the relationship has not been very good since their Barcelona days. It is also speculated that the Ivory Coast international left Nou Camp due to his problem in adjusting with the Spanish manager.
Yaya Toure, however, is having to bridge the gap between the two, with Pep Guardiola also looking to ease the tension down between the two in his first season as the club manager of Manchester City. After a season which has been rather dismal from the point of view of the Citizens given their high standards, the two are looking to work together in tandem to make it a good one in the next term for their team.
The midfielder has been in prolific form in the latter part of the season, scoring goals and providing assists to lift his team out of trouble on a number of occasions and make them finish in the top four this season. The race was closely contested by Arsenal and Liverpool as well, with the Reds ending the season at the fourth place, and the Gunners missing out on the Champions League for the first time since 1998.
In the next term, though, Toure might be doubtful to start for the Citizens, with the return of a fully fit Ilkay Gundogaon to the team, who has missed out on almost the whole of the recently concluded season due to an injury scare. However, given his ability to play a pivotal role in the midfield, and with the City chairman’s support by his side, Toure can stay at Manchester City for the next season as well.
