Yaya Touré has announced his intention to see out his contract with Manchester City which expires in 2017.
The midfielder, who contributed 20 goals to City's title winning campaign last season, was linked with a move to French champions Paris Saint Germain after a summer of speculation sparked by his own agent, Dimitri Seluk.
Seluk threw his client's future with the Premier League champions into the air by claiming the Ivorian had been left hurt by City's failure to acknowledge his 31st birthday, and later said that the club had disrespected Touré after everything he had done for them.
(The 31-year-old was the Premier League's highest scoring midfielder last season)
However, Touré and Seluk spoke to Sky Sports News on Friday to confirm the midfielder’s intention to honour his contract at the Etihad Stadium.
“The fans have always been good to me, they’ve always been good to my family,” Touré said. “I want to stay. I will always honour my contract. I don’t think about all this speculation. It’s a big pleasure to stay and enjoy the next season.”
“Everything is fine now,” he said. “There was a lot of speculation, you know. I think sometimes it’s quite disappointing. I need to do something for the fans, it’s important to let them know. They’ve done a lot for me. The team is preparing well and we will try to win again next season.”
Touré also denied claims that his agent had publicly criticised the club to seal a better contract for his client.
“To be honest, we never wanted to talk about money. There are more important things than money. To be happy, healthy. Respect as well is very important.”