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Yaya Touré's agent says move to Manchester City is on
Manchester City's long pursuit of Yaya Touré is nearing a successful conclusion and the basis of a deal with Barcelona has been agreed for after the World Cup.
A fee has been decided, understood to value him in the region of £25m, and if the structure of payments can be decided, City appear to have beaten off Chelsea to convince the 27-year-old that joining a club not involved in the Champions League may still be of benefit to his career.
Touré has been on City's radar since Mark Hughes was manager but until the past few weeks he has always expressed reservations about leaving Barcelona for a club outside the Champions League. He is now understood to be inclined to join his brother, Kolo, and become City's second major summer signing following the £10.5m arrival of Jerome Boateng, the Germany defender, from Hamburg.
"I think we will probably close his departure very soon," Touré's agent, Dimitri Seluk, said today. "It is likely to be this week but at the moment we can't announce anything."
The matter is complicated by Barcelona having a new president, Sandro Rosell. "I haven't spoken to Rosell but, out of respect, of course I will speak to him before anything is closed," Seluk said. "[Joan] Laporta is the president until 30 June but I have to speak to Rosell and know his opinion because he is the new president." Touré, however, has made up his mind that he wants to leave. We all want Yaya to stay at Barcelona as it's one of the greatest clubs in the world. Everything is perfect except for one thing – playing 65% of the minutes is not sufficient for a player such as Yaya. That's the only reason we want to go."
A guarantee of first-team action might also be difficult to come by at City given that they have four other holding midfielders – Nigel de Jong, Vincent Kompany, Patrick Vieira and Gareth Barry – but that is a risk Touré seems willing to take in a move that would represent another demonstration of the club's awesome spending power.
City have spent over £200m on players since the Abu Dhabi United Group took control of the club from Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2008 and their spending will not stop there. An initial bid of £18m plus £2m in add‑ons has been turned down by Aston Villa for James Milner but, undeterred, City will improve that offer after the World Cup. Their other targets include Edin Dzeko, Wolfsburg's Bosnian striker, and Mikel Arteta of Everton.
City and Chelsea are also competing for David Silva and the hope at Eastlands is that Touré's arrival will be followed by a £25m‑30m deal for the Valencia player. Silva, however, is said to favour Chelsea.
Robinho and Stephen Ireland are among the City players who want a move elsewhere. Bernd Schuster, coach of Besiktas, said of Robinho, whom he formerly managed at Madrid: "He would bring a new identity to the team. At Real Madrid we had a great relationship. He'll cost a lot but would be fantastic for the team. If the club wants, I will speak with him personally."
Manchester City's long pursuit of Yaya Touré is nearing a successful conclusion and the basis of a deal with Barcelona has been agreed for after the World Cup.
A fee has been decided, understood to value him in the region of £25m, and if the structure of payments can be decided, City appear to have beaten off Chelsea to convince the 27-year-old that joining a club not involved in the Champions League may still be of benefit to his career.
Touré has been on City's radar since Mark Hughes was manager but until the past few weeks he has always expressed reservations about leaving Barcelona for a club outside the Champions League. He is now understood to be inclined to join his brother, Kolo, and become City's second major summer signing following the £10.5m arrival of Jerome Boateng, the Germany defender, from Hamburg.
"I think we will probably close his departure very soon," Touré's agent, Dimitri Seluk, said today. "It is likely to be this week but at the moment we can't announce anything."
The matter is complicated by Barcelona having a new president, Sandro Rosell. "I haven't spoken to Rosell but, out of respect, of course I will speak to him before anything is closed," Seluk said. "[Joan] Laporta is the president until 30 June but I have to speak to Rosell and know his opinion because he is the new president." Touré, however, has made up his mind that he wants to leave. We all want Yaya to stay at Barcelona as it's one of the greatest clubs in the world. Everything is perfect except for one thing – playing 65% of the minutes is not sufficient for a player such as Yaya. That's the only reason we want to go."
A guarantee of first-team action might also be difficult to come by at City given that they have four other holding midfielders – Nigel de Jong, Vincent Kompany, Patrick Vieira and Gareth Barry – but that is a risk Touré seems willing to take in a move that would represent another demonstration of the club's awesome spending power.
City have spent over £200m on players since the Abu Dhabi United Group took control of the club from Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2008 and their spending will not stop there. An initial bid of £18m plus £2m in add‑ons has been turned down by Aston Villa for James Milner but, undeterred, City will improve that offer after the World Cup. Their other targets include Edin Dzeko, Wolfsburg's Bosnian striker, and Mikel Arteta of Everton.
City and Chelsea are also competing for David Silva and the hope at Eastlands is that Touré's arrival will be followed by a £25m‑30m deal for the Valencia player. Silva, however, is said to favour Chelsea.
Robinho and Stephen Ireland are among the City players who want a move elsewhere. Bernd Schuster, coach of Besiktas, said of Robinho, whom he formerly managed at Madrid: "He would bring a new identity to the team. At Real Madrid we had a great relationship. He'll cost a lot but would be fantastic for the team. If the club wants, I will speak with him personally."
