Yaya Toure’s future at Manchester City was plunged into further doubt on Monday after he was left out of Pep Guardiola’s 21-man squad for the Champions League clash with Steaua Bucharest.
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Toure, who captained Ivory Coast to the African Nations Cup title in 2015, has won both La Liga and the Premier League twice, as well as the Champions League with Barcelona in 2009.
However, it seems that Toure will be staying with the Citizens, even though he does not appear to play a big part in the Spanish tactician’s plans.
City, who reached the semi-final of the competition under Manuel Pellegrini last season, will play their first European match of the campaign on Tuesday as they take on Steaua Bucharest in the first leg of a play-off tie in Romania.
Guardiola has insisted, however, that the abovementioned players still have a chance to prove their worth.
“I don’t have any complaints about these names”, he said after City beat the Black Cats 2-1 on the weekend. So I am really impressed with the quality of Sammy.
“Claudio is a great professional, he is one of the most experienced players in this team”, the Argentina worldwide midfielder said.
I have no doubts about that [the players reacting well].
“I know Yaya from Barcelona, how he loves to play football”.
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City remain hopeful of completing a deal before the close of the summer transfer window and Mascherano accepts Bravo could leave the Nou Camp in the coming weeks. “From now [until] tomorrow morning I am going to decide what is best for the team”. Have your say in the comments section below.
