Manchester City news: Yaya Toure wants Etihad stay and states fans’ importance, insisting: ‘It’s not about the money’

1 Yaya Toure: The Ivorian returned to the first-team picture at Man City in November

Yaya Toure has expressed his desire to see out the rest of his career at Manchester City.

With the 34-year-old midfielder’s contract expiring this summer, his appearance in Sunday’s 5-0 Premier League win at Watford could prove to be his last for City – although reports have suggested he is likely to be offered a new deal.

And Toure, quoted by the Daily Mail on Monday, said: “I need to be honest, I’d love to play more.

“I just want that when I do finish I can finish at City.

“That’s what I want but we will see. I’m capable to play more.

“I want to go on until the end and the best way is going to be [playing] football with City.

“That would be the best way for me. To be honest, to see me in another shirt would be quite difficult.”

Toure was frozen out of the side by City boss Pep Guardiola in the early part of 2016-17 after a row between the manager and the player’s agent Dimitri Seluk, but he has been very much back involved since November.

He has been with City since 2010, helping them win two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups.

And the Ivorian, who says ‘it’s not about the money’, has stressed how important the club’s fans are to him.

Toure would like, in the future, to be able to say a ‘proper goodbye’ to City’s supporters, as long-serving defender Pablo Zabaleta did last week on his final home appearance for the club.

“I want to say a proper goodbye,’ Toure said.

“I want to be honest with the fans because those guys have been so special and the club has been good to me.

“Football is strange. I’ve always been positive even when I was in a difficult situation and people were questioning me and saying you can move in the summer.

“I just believed in myself and I know the fans believe in me because they know I am capable of doing something special.

“They always recognise what I did for the club, and it’s something special. You can always go somewhere else but where the fans care about you is the most important thing.

“For me, it’s not about the money or other things, it’s about the fans and [hopefully] for them I can stay, but we’ll see.”

Toure played for just over an hour of Sunday’s contest as City – whose goals came via Sergio Aguero’s brace and efforts from Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus – secured third place in the table and automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League group stage.