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City can be as good as Barca - Toure

Yaya Toure joined Manchester City from Barcelona in summer 2010 © Getty Images

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Yaya Toure believes Manchester City will prove they are worthy of a place in the European elite this season.

Toure joined City from Champions League winners Barcelona last summer and, after a promising first season that saw Roberto Mancini's side finish fourth in the Premier League, the midfielder now expects to see the Eastlands club operating at a similar level to the Spanish giants.

''Last season I was asked to compare City to my former club Barcelona. I responded by saying that I thought City could be as good as Barca one day,'' he told the Daily Star Sunday.

''When I said City could be as good, I truly believed it and I still do. We have a way to go to match those teams but it is our aim. With the ambition that the club has shown in the last few seasons and the way we are improving as a group, I think other clubs are now starting to take notice of the new Manchester City.

''We have shown we can match and beat the best in the Premier League and the next step is to do that in Europe too.''

Meanwhile, former Manchester City midfielder Patrick Vieira thinks that Mancini is the perfect man to deal with the issues surrounding the future of Carlos Tevez.

Vieira, now a part of the club's youth development staff, claims that Mancini has the man-management skills to lead the club to greatness and says he will always put City ahead of the egos of some of his star players.

"What I respect most about Mancini is that he isn't afraid to make the big decisions,'' Vieira told the Daily Mirror. "Remember last summer when he allowed Craig Bellamy to join Cardiff - even though he knew this was a player the fans loved.

"This time he is having to manage a difficult situation with Carlos Tevez. But having to take these big decisions will not worry him. Whether he makes the right choice or the wrong choice, Mancini is someone who is brave to make a decision and move on. He always looks at the big picture.

"Whether Carlos stays or leaves, the only thing Mancini will be thinking about is what is right for the team so that he can win more silverware. It takes time for fans to trust a manager, but winning the FA Cup and finishing third will make the fans believe in Roberto.

"He will not worry one bit about what other people think. He can be ruthless with players - but great managers like [Sir Alex] Ferguson, [Arsene] Wenger and [Jose] Mourinho all have that gift."

Vieira has also said that Mancini can cope with the pressure of needing to win trophies at the club and says he has the self-belief to succeed.

"There were a lot of things said about the manager last season, about what would happen to him if he wasn't successful,'' he added. ''If anything, the pressure will be even more this season because the expectations will grow.

"But I don't think pressure is something that Mancini worries about because he has worked under pressure all his life. No-one will put Roberto under more pressure than he does himself. He doesn't just want to win, he expects to win. That is his mentality.

"He was happy to win the FA Cup for City, but he will want that to be the start. Mancini didn't come to England just to win the cup. He came here to win the league. He wants to win the Champions League for Manchester City.

"If he didn't believe that the club was in a position to let him achieve his ambitions then he wouldn't have come here. Being faced by Ferguson and Wenger won't worry him. Sure, those men are managers he respects, but he has a belief that he can beat them."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.