Manuel Pellegrini says he has never envisaged the prospect of letting Yaya Toure quit Manchester City.
Reports emerged that City “would be open” to releasing the Ivory Coast international in January in the wake of his red card incidence in their 2-1 Champions League defeat by CSKA Moscow on Wednesday.
“Yaya is a very important player,” Pellegrini said. “In the second half he made a mistake, which saw him sent off.
“But I am not, and I am sure nobody else in this club is talking about selling Yaya Toure.”
Toure will miss the Premier League champions’ game against Bayern Munich after getting straight red card for pushing CSKA’s Roman Eremenko in midweek.
The 31-year-old, who is in contention for the 2014 Fifa Ballon d’Or and Caf Player of the Year awards, immediately
City fans – I am sorry for my red card. I feel it is important to apologise for this.
— Yaya Touré (@YayaToure) November 5, 2014
to fans.
Pellegrini’s men must win at the Etihad Stadium against the German Bundesliga champions on Tuesday, November 25, or face a third elimination in the group stage of the Champions League should there be a winner in the other fixture between AS Roma and CSKA.
The Chillean boss added: “Of course there must be a lot of report telling us Yaya will be sold.
“Maybe all those news come from other teams who want to see our team in the weakest form.”
