Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 8y

Yaya Toure omission will see Man City fans in Africa support United - agent

Manchester City will lose fans across Africa because of the way Yaya Toure has been treated by Pep Guardiola, according to the Ivory Coast midfielder's agent.

Toure, 33, has since been left out of the squad for the Champions League group stage with UEFA rules forcing Guardiola to drop an overseas player with only 17 of his 18 foreign players eligible.

His adviser, Dimitri Seluk, believes the decision to omit the four-time African Player of the Year winner will not be popular on his home continent.

"They will lose a lot of millions of supporters from Africa because of this decision from Guardiola," Seluk told Sky Sports. "Now they will support Manchester United. A lot of people in Africa say they will never see any more matches of City on TV."

Toure has not featured in the starting lineup or even on the bench for any of City's three Premier League fixtures this season.

His only appearance came in the Champions League playoff second leg against Steaua Bucharest with the tie effectively over following City's 5-0 win in Romania.

Toure, who has been with City for six seasons winning two Premier League titles and three domestic cups, is in the final year of his contract at the Etihad.

He will be free to sign a pre-contract agreement with a club outside of England in January and Seluk believes that there will be plenty of interest from clubs in Europe and around the world.

"Yaya in January can sign a pre-contract agreement with clubs abroad," he added. "He will have many offers from clubs. China and America of course they want him but we will have a lot of offers from England and Europe.

"He is in very good shape, very good condition, I think he lost seven kilograms.

"Maybe that's not good enough for Guardiola, but then Zlatan Ibrahimovic wasn't good enough for him [at Barcelona]."

Toure is still eligible to play in the Premier League but is not expected to be recalled to the squad for Saturday's clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford despite the absence of suspended striker Sergio Aguero.

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