Yaya Toure signs on for another year at Manchester City
MANCHESTER, England (AP) – Yaya Toure signed a one-year contract at Manchester City on Thursday, keeping the midfielder at the English club for an eighth season.
Toure's deal was due to expire this month, but City director Txiki Begiristain said the former Ivory Coast captain was ''one of our most experienced and popular players and we couldn't be happier that he is staying with us.''
Toure's future at City looked bleak at the start of this season, when he was ostracized by Pep Guardiola because the coach was unhappy at Toure's fitness levels and also the criticism coming from the player's outspoken agent, Dimitri Seluk.
Toure was even omitted from City's squad for the Champions League group stage but he knuckled down, lost about 14 pounds, and reclaimed his place in the team by November as a deep-lying midfielder.
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He has survived a cull of soon-to-be out-of-contract players, with Bacary Sagna, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, Jesus Navas and Willy Caballero all leaving the club this month.
''I told myself the journey at City is not done,'' Toure said, ''and when I received a call from Txiki and talked to the manager, I was very delighted.''
Toure joined City from Barcelona in 2010 and was a key member of the team's Premier League title-winning campaigns in the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons.
He has played 299 games for City, scoring 81 goals.
