Yaya Toure’s agent says player being made scapegoat for Man City’s poor season

Dimitri Seluk labels Manuel Pellegrini ‘a good coach, but a weak manager’

Yaya Toure is being made a scapegoat for Manchester City's poor season and underfire boss Manuel Pellegrini is a "weak manager", according to the Ivorian midfielder's agent Dimitri Seluk.

Champions City have faded dramatically since the turn of the year, falling to fourth in the Premier League, and were knocked out of the FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League without reaching the quarter-finals.

Toure, a dominant force in City’s title march last season, has borne the brunt of the criticism and Pellegrini said last week he was unhappy with the 31-year-old’s performances.

“Some people at City are trying to blame Yaya for what has happened this season,” Seluk told the Sunday Mirror.

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“The problem is that City want Yaya to do everything. They want him to score goals, they want him to assist goals, and they want him to defend.

“It is also interesting that City could not win a match when Yaya was away at the African Nations. He cannot do it all on his own. It seems the answer for everything at City is to blame Yaya.”

Seluk said some blame for City’s struggles, which have brought just four wins from their last 10 league matches, should be attributed to the club’s senior management.

“Those people aren’t taking responsibility for their own mistakes,” he added. “I am talking about executives who have bought players for a lot of money and then put those players on the bench.

"I am talking about executives who spend a lot of money on Stevan Jovetic and then drop him from the Champions League squad. I feel sorry for Pellegrini. He is a good coach, but a weak manager."

Seluk said Toure would have no shortage of suitors should he decide to end his five-year stay at the Etihad Stadium.

“If City want Yaya to leave then they should come out and say so,” he added.

“Two of the biggest clubs have already asked me if he is available and I know that if City said they will sell, then another 10 would call me inside 24 hours.”