Yaya Toure’s stock has plummeted at the Etihad with no way back under Pep Guardiola.
Yaya Toure needs to leave Manchester City in order to restart his stalling career, older brother Kolo has told RMC Sport.
The Ivorian powerhouse was the driving force behind City’s revolution in recent years but has been frozen out entirely since the arrival of Pep Guardiola, who famously sold Yaya at Barcelona, with a series of high-profile jibes by Toure’s outspoken agent Dimitri Seluk only souring their relationship further.
According to the Daily Mail, the experienced midfielder had demanded Seluk make peace with the Catalan coach after Guardiola made clear that Toure would not be made available for selection until an apology was issued.
However, Yaya is still yet to make an appearance for the club in the Premier League this season, his only action coming in a Champions League qualifier dead-rubber against Steaua Bucharest in August.
And former City defender Kolo has now waded into the issue, suggesting that his decorated sibling needs to escape from the crossfire as soon as possible if he is to stand any chance of salvaging a season that is quickly becoming a write-off – one he can barely afford with his career winding to a close.
“We have all been through [being frozen out],” the veteran centre-back told RMC Sport.
“You’re at the top at one moment, and then you go back down. You have to understand that you need a change of scenery, go to a place where people want you.”
Kolo, who appears certain to add a top flight title with Celtic to the medals he picked up at Arsenal and City, added that Marseille could be the ideal destination for the former Barcelona and Monaco dynamo.
Despite toiling in the lower reaches of the Ligue 1 table, the French giants are embarking upon an ambitious new era after being taken over by American businessman Frank McCourt, who has pledged to invest almost £200 million into the club in order to return them to the top of the European game, as reported by the BBC.
The project shares certain parallels with the uprising undertaken by City under Sheikh Mansour, the ‘noisy neighbours’ escalating from mid-table mediocrity to bonafide title challengers within a few short years.
And Toure, who was at the heart of their meteoric rise, could prove the perfect candidate to replicate the feat across the channel, with his knowledge of French football potentially invaluable to a youthful squad.
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