Yaya Toure summer transfer sagas are becoming the norm. Manchester City often find themselves in a delicate situation. Toure is one of their best and most important payers, yet is advised by an agent, Dimitri Seluk, whose primary concern is getting the best deal for his client, even if that involves unsettling the club he plays for. It’s a distracting sideshow that must surely leave the City officials exasperated every year.

This summer has been no exception. It may not have reached the levels of absurdity last year’s “cake-gate” incident did, but Seluk did tell Sky Sports only a few weeks ago he was “90 per cent sure” Toure would start next season away from the Etihad.

Inter Milan were interested, with former City manager Roberto Mancini, now in charge at the San Siro, pretty clear in his intent, as reported by ESPN, and Toure himself had cast admiring glances to France’s nouveau riche Paris Saint Germain, according to Darren Lewis writing in the Mirror. It’s fair to say his position at City has been uncertain for some time.

But there appears to be some closure. It is looking increasingly likely Toure will be at City next season, particularly given his comments to James Robson at the Manchester Evening News during the club’s post-season tour. At 32, some will see that as a problem, that City should have cashed in on a player whose star is on the wane and tried to move on from the overreliance they have on him to control games from midfield.

He still has plenty to offer, though, but to maximise his quality in his later years, perhaps Manuel Pellegrini needs to concoct a different role for the Ivorian, one which involves fewer defensive responsibilities and allows him to occupy spaces higher up the pitch.

Currently, he is asked to play in a two-man midfield, breaking up opposition attacks and attacking from deep. It’s a role that involves a high level of energy expenditure, too much, perhaps, for a 32-year-old. Indeed, the Toure of the 2013/14 season appeared to thrive in such an all-encompassing role, scoring 20 league goals from the middle of the pitch, many of them vital in terms of their importance, and generally dominating games with his pace and power. He finished third in the PFA Player of the Year vote in what was his best season as a professional footballer. 

Yet this season there was a decline, summed up by Pellegrini himself, who, speaking before the game with West Ham United in April, said: “I don’t think he’s happy with his performance this year – and nor am I.

“But we must support him and return him to his normal performance. Maybe if we play without Yaya when he was at the Africa Cup and we’d won all the games, then he comes back and we start losing, maybe then you think that.”

It’s certainly true Toure’s form has dipped. His goals tally has almost halved, and there have been one or two performances—Burnley and Manchester United away, in particular—where he was a complete non-entity.

But Toure remains a unique player. No one else in the City squad can do what he does. His precision passing, the power and pace, the intelligence, the dominance, the long-range free-kicks and the ability to carry the ball. It’s a remarkable mix of attributes that means he remains one of the best and most valued players around, despite his advancing years. 

But some time in the No. 10 role, playing closer to Sergio Aguero and with two midfielders playing behind him to assume the burden of defensive responsibility, would surely be better for the City side. It seems unfair to ask Toure to play such a demanding role as the one he is in now when his form has suffered and his legs aren’t perhaps what they once were. 

 

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report’s lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.

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