Caught in the middle of a public spat between his agent and his manager, Yaya Touré has been very quiet in recent days.
The midfielder, who isn’t in Pep Guardiola’s plans at Manchester City, is likely to leave the Premier League side at the end of the season on a free to try and get some first-team football somewhere else.
In order to do this, and save himself for the future, the player called a halt to his international career on Tuesday after 102 caps and 19 goals for Ivory Coast.
Interviewed about his son’s decision, Touré’s father, Mr Touré Mori told AIP, relayed by La Diplomatique d’Abidjan, he felt his son had made the right decision.
He said: “In football, you need to know when to leave, and Yaya did the right thing. Football is an ungrateful sport. The day you don’t meet the public’s expectations, you won’t be thanked.
“Yaya told me after the CAN (African Cup of Nations) he would call it a day. I tried to tell to continue a little bit. He tried, but he then decided to stop for good. Now that’s it’s official, it’s his choice and I can’t comment on it.”
The 33-year-old, who has played 269 times for Manchester City, scoring 72 goals and picking up 45 assists along the way, has had a very successful career so far, winning 17 trophies for four different clubs.
Playing in Spain, France, England, Ukraine, Belgium and Greece, what’s next for Touré? Italy?
