Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini has revealed that he would love to have Yaya Toure at the club and has pleaded to his Sporting Director to try and sign the midfielder.
The Ivorian was signed by Mancini in 2010, when the Italian was in charge of Manchester City, for a fee of around A?24m and he turned out to be a key player for them in the following years as he helped his side to their first title in 35 years after City won the FA Cup. Toure then helped his side clinch the Premier League under Mancini after they won in dramatic fashion in 2012.
Speaking to Sky Sport24, Mancini said, “Yaya Toure? Piero Ausilio [Inter’s sporting director] – put your hand in your pocket!
“I had Yaya at Manchester City and I think he is one of the best players in the world.
“It’s not easy, though, because he’s at Manchester City, so it’s up to him and whether he wants to come and play in Italy, after playing in the other major European leagues.
“He’d be a big signing not just for Inter but also for the Italian league’s prestige as a whole.
“Inter have more appeal than many teams, though, so wea ll see what happens in the future, but he belongs to Manchester City at the moment.”
“In all my years I’ve never come across so many good players willing to follow my orders to a tee. The players are giving their all, but obviously returning to the top requires a little time.
“But I remember what we did at City with great players. We had a team that was fighting for survival. I hope that inside a year Inter can play like my City. That must be the objective.”
Toure thrived under Roberto Mancini after he was given a more attacking role compared to his days at Barcelona where he was more often used as a defensive player. He has been one of the best midfielders in world football in the last two years if not the best. At 31, he still has a lot to offer and considering that he has won trophies in England and Spain, he might move to the Serie A in the future. However, Inter will have to qualify for the Champions League at minimum if they are to attract top talent and at the moment they are nowhere close to that. They are currently in 11th place, 13 points adrift of the final Champions League place.