Touré: “City presents a new challenge”
Former Barcelona defensive midfielder Yaya Touré (27) has discussed some of the reasons for his departure in an interview with Andy Hunter published in today’s Guardian.
Many fans were shocked and saddened when Touré decided to leave FC Barcelona for Manchester City, and the club now faces the difficult task of replacing the influential player.
When asked point-black about how he could possibly consider leaving one of the best clubs in the world, Touré replied:
“When you say ‘I want to leave Barcelona,’ people think you are a crazy person. They are a big team, a great team, and nobody wants to leave them because of that.”
When pressed further, Touré went on the defensive:
“The situation I do not want to speak about. I do not want to talk about Barcelona.”
However, Touré was only too happy to talk about City and the prospect of a new chapter in his career there:
“I’ve won everything in Barcelona, and I needed a new challenge…Manchester City want to write a new chapter in their history. We need to make this club great and I am sure we will. My brother and I want to make great things happen at this club.”
So, does boredom explain Touré’s departure? The £200,000-a-week contract probably didn’t hurt either!
what a great person. A player like him should never be on the bench second to no one. But i understand where both Yaya and pep coming from. Yaya knows he is an amazing player and deserve a starting role and he demanded more playing time from pep, Pep couldnt promise him that. so you gota understand why he would leave. but iam sure other people have different opinions.
Stop talking bullshit people!! No way in hell did he leave Barcelona for money!!! Barcelona sold him to ManCity and not any other club because of money! & YAYA went there because he wanted to play with his brother KOLO!!
U'l be MISSED YAYA!! ALL THE VERY BEST!!
Yaya " City provides a new challenge (i.e. how to carry all of this money from their offices to my house)"
Actually I dont blame Yaya for taking the money. A footballers career is short and especially guys that come from Africa and the Caribbean where there are poorer countries need to make as much money as they can while they are at their peak. Yaya has won everything there is to win. To borrow an NBA way of thinking. Some guys cant afford to chase silverware, they need to take the money while they can get it.
True. The fact that Yaya earned more money in every single year than most people earn in their lifetime is completely irrelevant. He needs to make as much money as humanly possible to be able to feed himself once he retires. Imagine him and his family only having 30 million euros in the bank when he retires???? What kind of life is that? It's perfectly understandable that he needs at least 50 million euros when he retires to be able to live a decent life.
have you ever met any person in your life that says. i can make double what i'm making now doing the same thing but i think i'll stick with what i'm doing currently?
So you are defending Figo as well now?
Yes, I have met people who are not obsessed with only money. I hope you have too.
But we all know that Yaya and his agent is nothing but greedy mercenaries, they should just be honest about it instead of trying to bullshit us.
He needs the money because he's from Africa?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUYdi43qXHc
LOL.. Yep, definitely was all about the money. Good player, but id honestly be surprisd if the team suffered because of toure leaving.. wont matter once a backup arrives.
kayr you keep forgetting what TB is trying to achieve here. i don't want you get banned so please stop insulting people.
He didn't go there for money, i don't care what you people think… Yes, it was a factor but one of MANY factors! The project is very exiting plus he will be playing with his bro… He declared his love for the english game a long time ago too… His Idol plays there (Viera)…
Agree with Maxmaxmaz, Pep couldn't have done much… Plus like Sandrusco said, his stupid agent and his brother must have been very influental in his decision…
Anyway, unlike what many people have been doing lately, i will not insult you just to praise Busi or the other way round…
I think i speak for evryone when i say, WE LOVE YOU TOURE… I will watch Man City way more just to see you play… Toure Yaya: "Mes que un jugador" IN EVERY WAY…
Good Luck and thanks for EVERYTHING!!!
Come on dude. Lets not get emotional. But be realistic. If Man City came to Milito and said we will make you the highest paid player in the BPL AND GUARANTEE first team play time not to mention you will get to play with your bro, dont you think he would suddenly become unhappy sitting on our bench?
It was about the money. Didnt you hear what he said? His agent told him its time to leave. His agent probably gets a nice big percentage of the transfer.
I know it's one of the factors… Now let's not forget football is their career! I also know his stupid agent was influential… Now, like i said, there are many other GOOD factors that i stated above….
But to say, he only went there for Money the same way Sheva went to Chelsea for example is plain stupid!
Of course, toure is unhappy sitting on the bench… HE'S THE BEST DMF OUT THERE! So you think it's just an excuse to leave???
I understand why pep plays Busi and i understand why Yaya wants out… It's one of those situations were No one's wrong!
He left because of sergio.a player in he's class can't be just a bench warmer.
he had every thing in BARCA but a 20 boy over him is nightmare.
i think every player that tast this situation give right to YA YA.
This is the real factor.
Agree with KAYR.
A player can't leave barca for money at century 21.
we are the best in many aspects.
emotion was influence more than you erver think.
@odn-barca4life. well i dont think that milito example you gave is correct. because its not always about the money. man city were ready to pay messi clause out and buy him. that is 500 mill. do you think he would have gone ? NO
Man city gave messi a blank cheque last year….did messi leave??? Yaya didnt leave SOLEY for the money. He's 1 of if not the best DM in the world and every week he has to see some skinny guy who isnt even 3/4 the beast yaya is the main factor.
BUSQUETS OWNS ..
and you cannot handle it.. hahahah
What I see is that City presents a big, fat salary…
Kayr i like toure more than busquets but the guy turned down manchester united to play for city and then claim he went to city to win titles and coincidentally he becomes the highest paid player in the team(225,000 wtf), even tevez was angry as his pay check. i'm not mad at him leaving cause his place in the team last season shocked me but if titles were more important to him don't you think manchester united would of been a better choice.
He never said he wants to win titles… He said he wants to turn City into a big team! City are an ambitious club that wants to make history, that motives and excites a lot… David Silva went there too! Why would he want to go to united? United will not win the PL and you and I know it! All the good factors + the salary was why he chose city, not money alone! Don't forget his brother plays at City which is a big factor. He always claimed how it would be a dream to play with Kolo… and he loves the premiership…
Barca did their best so that he doesn't leave… But if as they knew he was leaving, EVEN THEM (BARCA) DID THEIR BEST SO THAT HE GOES TO CITY… WHY? I think you know…
It was a good deal for everyone involved ( including city, toure, barca…and most importantly his agent)…LOL
did u know that there are 39 first team players at city ?? the chances of him being a regular there isn't high.. if he doesn't do well in a couple of matches, de jong would be the regular starter for sure.. de jong was 1 of their best players last year along with tevez.. i doubt toure can go there n change everything with a whisker.. like madrid, they have clear out sale every year n buy new players every year.. they dont gel, they dont win… they would be lucky to finish in the top 3 next year…
He start every where except BARCA.
lol @ u thinking yaya wont be starting 11, Yaya can walk into any starting 11………exept "pep's" starting 11
@ marcbarca, i honestly think next season man city is going to be a better than man u. Unless man u buys few new player i dont see them winning anything again. just like last season. well they won something but it wasn't that significant
For all of you thinking he wanted to leave barca for the money, you don’t know what you are talking about! Pep played him second fiddle to sergio biscuits. Sergio doesnt deserve a starting role over yaya and he wasnt paid his worth either(had to play 60% for a pay raise something in his contract). He was almost forced out of barca. I knew when he renewed his contract that Pep would put him on the bench and it was only a matter of time that he figured he wasnt going to be first choice. I CANT UNDERSTAND WHY! the only thing sergio has over toure is he STAYS in that position and doesnt wander alot and i guess pep wants that. Other than that YAya is in the top 3 if not the best DMF in the world. Dynamic, Fast and powerful as well as skillfull! Barca have mad a HUGE mistake and although i think they will fill that position, they wont know yaya’s value until mid-season and the BIG games. Sergio biscuits is a good player but hes NO WAY ready to be first choice and i honestly dont know what pep was thinking?! You will be missed Yaya!!
Agree with everything except the Sergio part… Busi was a starter deservingly!!! He has the two most important things a DMF at barca MUST have along with other qualities:
- His Positioning is second to none.
-His tranquility on the ball.
But agee TOURE is one of two best DMF along with Busi… IMO!!!
Yeah, the value of Busquets in BIG games has truly been awful for us. He's just played the CL final and the World Cup final the age of 21 and 22 years old. This clearly shows he is NO WAY ready to be first choice. He is sooooo inexperienced. I mean, CL final and World Cup final, victorious in both of course, is not good enough. Yaya is best player in the world history, better than Pele and Maradona and everyone else, he is so good, I have fallen in love with him.
Funny.
Look praise Busi but don't insult Toure in the process!
DMF in 4-4-2 is away from 4-3-3.(WC)
He can't be the best choice for DMF in BARCA in future.
i hate 4-4-2.
hahah.. lol well said
@ walker, you simply said everything i was thinking of
off topic : if this deal is true , then galliani is smoking the same crap that tixiki was smoking when he made his mad offer for ibra .
milan offer pato and thiago silva for ibrahimovic . according to EMD . and i highly doubt it .
I hope he spend thousands of hours in hardness in Man shitty to find out what great club he has lost
-1… I'm doing my best not to use foul language so that my comment doesn't get deleted…
Common Clire, we do not treat our players like that!
he's not our player anymore , someday he will come back and knock the Barca's door with eyes full of tears… that day we will not allow him to play in our team and laugh at him .
@ clire. iam glad you are the one who makes the decisions in barca and not the board lol
He gave us what he could do.WE WISH BEST WISHES FOR YA YA.
Clire be honest.
Just a fan , why are you telling such crap things ??
I know he was very very good at Barca , but he did something bad to us , I never forgive him
he should have finished here not go in an ENGLISH club .
I hope he just will feel sorry to leave there ..I hope
HA ha ha,crap
i'm happy that we have not many Clire in this site.you are alone man.
don't be selfish.
if messi leave us you treat him like this,horrible.
in this way couple of years later you hate many of players that serve us many years.
GOOD LUCK YA YA.
Only fight with madrid hard.
I think we should forget about Cesc at the moment and focus on Oezil. He will properbly cost less than half of what Arsenal are demanding for Cesc, that will leave us with some extra cash for other reinforcements. I like the rumour about exchanging Ibra for Thiago Silve. If we could also get Pato then we would have a deal. Ibra plus some cash for Pato and Thiago Silva.
Pato is not BARCA material.
title should be Touré: “City presents more money”
Stop the crap.WE ARE BARCA THIS IS NOT OUR METHOD.
Players should be happy to play.he was not so …
exactly
Good luck Yaya Toure ! I wish you the bests at your current club , don't forget us please !
Hey ! don't insult him please ! he was a great boy in our club , he never left us for money but as he said
" he likes a new challenge! "
The truth.
Well some of you are very naive. The man said I have already won everything at barca. Meaning that he will go down in history for winning everything a footballer can win. So in his head the winning aspect of his career is done, but here comes the money. Of course is about the money, and when you combine all the money with the fact that he will be playing next to his brother every week. Well there was just no way he would stay.
He also said he doesnt want to talk about the barca situation. meaning there is more to it but out of respect to his days in barca he chose not to
Sigh money is his motivations/ when someone leaves barcelona is becuase they know they can't get a starting place..
Exactly.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jessica Tran, totalBarça. totalBarça said: Touré: “City presents a new challenge” http://bit.ly/csqPU2 [...]
Here is the bottom line:
Yaya signed at ManCity for 221,000 pounds/ week, Lionel Messi gets paid 160,000 euros/ week.
Yaya justifies it by saying. "I grew up in poverty so I deserve the money"
When you love the club you wont b!tch about a lack of playing time but respect the coach who won it all and his decision. All that was just show to convince himself that he wasn't a money grabber.
Yaya is a dirty money grabber. FACT.
BUSQUETS OWNS.
I REST MY CASE.
lol.. Busquets owns indeed.
@ Stevenson and the Totalbarca team; "With all due respect to Stevenson and all my peers here"; When will we all realize, that it's no longer a good Idea, to keep posting an article involving such an emotional and controversial subject matter here? Now, while most of us understand and do truly appreciate, the labor of love that involves, the long hours and volunteer work that has gone into making this "Blog" the wonderful success that it's today lets not marginalize that by posting such a sensitive issue ( along with Ibra's,Busquets and Cesc's ) here, anymore. Am I the only one who thinks that this brings out a lot of latent hostility because of strong differences of opinion here? Whether we like to admit it or not, fans are generally very rigid and set in there ways. It's not easy to dislodge them from their beliefs and opinions.Why are we flogging a dead horse? How does this Unify us?
No,no,no i don't think so.
Some of you ppl are full of sh**
No matter who's better then who, Cleary Yaya things he's better then being second DM
but he never made a big deal about it, nor did he start any trouble durin the season
infact he was popular among the players and staff
and we all know if he was our nr 1 dm he would retire in barcelona, so to think
he left JUST for money is DEAD wrong
But since he was leavin anyway, why not leave where you will be earning alot, close to your fam
and be nr 1 dm.
Man u, chelsea or Real Madrid, football wise leavin barca according to Yaya is always down hill
so go down with alot of cash
PS ppl are forgettin that barca also SOLD HIM to city over other teams cause of money
Man u offered 25, city 35
Yaya also said, when he was renewing is conract a year ago, Man u ask for him, but he choice to stay
cause he was happy here, DONT U THINK MAN U offered back then more then BARCA was ?
Give the guy a break
finally someone talks sense.
it's unbelievable how some people here react.
If we sign Moussa Sissoko no one will be missing Toure in a year or two.
Agree in two years but we may miss a piece.
get VELOSO as both DMF and CB backup.
No thank you.
Who do you guys think is the better choice Moussa Sissoko or Capoue??. Capoue seems to have better defensive qualeties, but Sissoko on the other hand seems to have better offensive qualeties. I prefer Sissoko since he would be able to play the DMF but also as a in a more offensive role if needed. This means we could stop this Cesc madness and get both a DMF and AMF in one. Capoue is also capable of playing the CB position but I prefer signing a completely different player to replace Marquez/Chygrynskiy.We already have Busquets who has a similar playing style to Capoue, and if we bougth Sissoko it would leave us with more options for the DMF position.
Excellent! Thank you.