According to Ben Gladwell at ESPN FC, Inter manager Roberto Mancini has identified Yaya Toure as a summer transfer target, eyeing a reunion with his former Manchester City midfielder. 

The 31-year-old Ivorian—he’ll turn 32 at the end of this season—is enjoying yet another successful season, notching eight goals and an assist through 24 Premier League matches. 

Although Toure has seemingly staved off the offensive decline expected of 30-something all-action midfielders, he has tons of mileage on those long legs. 

He’s played at least 42 matches in each season since joining the Sky Blues from Barcelona back in 2010 and never featured in fewer than 37 matches across all competitions during his three-year tenure with Barca. 

Injuries are impossible to predict, and I won’t aim to do so; however, I’d exercise extreme caution before handing a midfielder over 30 the contract Inter are said to be mulling over. 

Per the Mirror, the Nerazzurri are preparing a Godfather offer—£54 million over five years. 

That is an absolutely massive sum and, as Gladwell details in the previously cited piece, a yearly salary that would be more than three times what Nemanja Vidic and Rodrigo Palacio, Inter’s highest earners, take home.

Don’t get me wrong—on the pitch Toure would be a fantastic addition, but getting him in the famous black-and-blue kit seems like it’d take an unreasonable financial commitment.

Aside from the exorbitant contract he’ll command, City will be aiming to squeeze every penny out of Toure. 

That’s a phrase rarely used as it pertains to uber-affluent Manchester City, but the club’s extravagant spending is being heavily curtailed by UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations, or FFP. 

FFP essentially states that a club can’t spend more than it makes, and due to City’s struggles this season, they’ll want to be major players in this summer’s transfer market. 

However, before they can look to the silly season to bring in new talent, City will need to sell off some players and recoup as much money as possible, so they can drop the millions they want to.  

Transfermarkt.com values the Ivorian at €28 million, and while that may be a bit of an over-valuation, again, don’t expect for City to let him leave on the cheap. 

And City aren’t the only club in this rumored deal to be wrestling with FFP—Inter are also on UEFA’s radar.

Top earners Vidic and Palacio are signed through at least next season, as are third and fourth-highest earners Hernanes and Fredy Guarin.

Save for Guarin, unloading any of those three footballers won’t be an easy ask as all three are either approaching or over 30 years old, will be particular about the club they’d join and haven’t exactly set the world on fire with their season performances. 

And speaking of Guarin, he can aptly occupy the box-to-box spot into which Toure would presumably slot. 

It should go without saying that a club shouldn’t want to splash the cash at a position where they already have a capable starter, especially when the rumored target is even older than the incumbent.

Mauro Icardi, who, per the Express, is yet to agree to an improved contract with the Nerazzurri, would free up loads of spending flexibility, but he’s arguably the club’s brightest prospect. 

Inter shouldn’t and don’t seem like they want to sell Icardi, so they’ll have very little room to spend on the new players Mancini clearly needs—that is, unless they’re able to unload some other players. 

The Nerazzurri face a catch-22 this summer: They need to spend in order to improve their league position, but FFP hampers their ability to do so.

This summer will be a pivotal time for Inter, a historic club that has missed out on Europe in two of the past three seasons—and they’re a good bet to miss out on a top-five finish this year as well. 

Uncertainty is abound at the San Siro, but one thing is for certain: Yaya Toure is not the answer for Roberto Mancini.

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