• Premier League

I've never seen Toure unhappy - Silva

ESPN staff
May 23, 2014
Yaya Toure is no Zinedine Zidane

David Silva says he has never seen any sign of team-mate Yaya Toure being unhappy at Manchester City despite the furore over his birthday celebrations.

The Ivory Coast midfielder's future has been in doubt since his agent made bizarre and incorrect claims that City failed to wish his client a happy birthday last week.

The 31-year-old then seemed to contradict himself in a series of tweets, most of them now deleted, when he first implied he was settled and then backed his agent, Dimitry Seluk, and claimed he would give an interview after the World Cup explaining everything.

Toure furore is a turn off

  • If the Premier League's detractors ever needed evidence that the top flight has become a ridiculous, ego-fuelled den of inequity, the Yaya Toure row has surely provided it.
  • The game at that level has long since severed its links with paying fans and the everyday realities of most lives, but a player who is said to earn £200,000 a week throwing a tantrum about insufficient birthday celebrations is a new low.
  • Toure has just had a great season for Manchester City and should be basking in glory after an exciting run to the title rather than allowing his agent, Dimitry Seluk, to tarnish his and the game's names. Seluk has gone to great lengths to claim the farce has had nothing to do with money but, somehow, I'm not sure I believe him.
  • Leo Spall, Deputy Editor

Silva, who joined City in 2010 from Valencia in the same summer Toure signed from Barcelona, said thee have been had no indications the Ivorian was eager to leave.

"I've been playing with the guy Toure for years and I've always thought he was okay," Silva said.

"So I don't understand why anyone would necessarily think he was unhappy. He's always seemed fine to me."

Seluk subsequently changed his tack and said Toure wanted a long-term role off the pitch at the Etihad Stadium to convince him to stay.

Silva, who is also under contract until 2017, is at least clear that he is happy at City and does not want to leave, saying: "You never get tired of winning and at the moment I'm winning with City, so I don't have any ideas of making a change.

"We scored a lot of goals this season and it looks as though it's building up to a good future. The manager has created a good atmosphere and brought a better energy to the pace and the result of that is we have won two trophies so far."

Asked if he expects to be offered a new deal, he replied: "That depends on the club, not necessarily on me. At the moment I'm happy and happy to stay there.

"With football you can never predict what's going to happen but at the moment I'm very happy and don't see any changes."

Toure and Silva have won the Premier League twice, the FA Cup and the League Cup in their four years at City.

Yaya Toure's future at Manchester City is in doubt © PA Photos
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