In his prime the best midfielder to ever wear the City shirt, scored 24 goals in one season, unstoppable penalties and impossible curls on free kicks. Dictated the play more than Silva. His rapid decline robbed us of a very good player who for 2 years at least we talked of who would be the next Yaya in a system where he was central to our formation.
I just don't think his physique can cope with high intensity at his age. Part of his technique involved pace and muscling through the midfield like the graceful man mountain that he was then. The good news is we no longer need a Yaya like player in the team. It would be useful to have that option, but we have gone with the Pep route in moving the ball around in pace, instead of having a focal player to ping the ball back and forth from.