Manuel Pellegrini is adamant Manchester City have no plans to sell Yaya Toure and said the subject has not even been discussed.
Reports claimed that the Premier League champions could cash in on the midfielder next summer but manager Pellegrini claimed they must have been designed by other clubs in an attempt to destabilise City.
Toure, who was involved in a dispute with the club over the summer after claiming they did not celebrate his birthday, has only scored three goals this season and was sent off in Wednesday's 2-1 defeat to CSKA Moscow.
He said in a news conference: "There must be a lot of reports telling that Yaya will be sold. Maybe all the other teams want Manchester City to be a weaker team. Yaya is a very important player.
"He played very well in the first half [against CSKA] and he scored a goal. In the second half he made a mistake and he was sent off but I am sure nobody at the club is talking about selling Yaya Toure so maybe that news comes from other teams to see our team weaker."
Toure, who was a £24-million signing from Barcelona in 2010, scored 24 goals last season but his form has been criticised in the current campaign.
City's defeat to CSKA leaves them bottom of their Champions League group with just two points from four games.
But Pellegrini claimed he is not feeling the heat, saying: "I never feel pressure. In my career, I have had 25 years managing teams and the only pressure I feel is my own pressure to return to play in the way I like this team to play, to play attractive football and be a winning team so all the other pressure.
"I don't read press, I don't have any other pressures. I don't feel external pressure in my whole career."
Pellegrini said it was premature to dismiss City's chances of retaining their Premier League title.
He added: "I don't know if you can take conclusions when you have to play 28 games more. It is a lot of games. We are just in November. Maybe in November of last year we were in a worse position in the Premier League."
Read more at <a class="postlink" href="http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/365709.html#kuMZm4wlzX4O7hoF.99" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/st ... X4O7hoF.99</a>