Yaya Toure has been going through a troubled a spell at Manchester City this season.

The midfielder has not featured in any match this season. It is a major surprise considering that manager Pep Guardiola decided to offer him a new contract towards the end of the campaign after having seen him perform admirably towards the end of the 2016-17 campaign. The 34-year-old was linked with a move to several new leagues like the Chinese Super League. Yet, he ended up staying at Manchester City but it seems to be the wrong decision from the Ivory Coast star.

Guardiola does not appear to be satisfied with the commitment given by Toure in training, and this has been cited as one of the reasons by sources close to the manager. The player reportedly does not understand the reason for not being picked even as a substitute in recent matches. Even though he was involved in the first three matches of the campaign as a substitute, he was completely left out of the squad for the 6-0 victory over Watford. Since then, he has not been able to make it to the squad.

At 34 years of age, Toure is unlikely to be happy sitting on the bench – even if he is collecting a lot of wages. The former Ivory Coast international would like to feature more regularly as the season progresses.

“Yaya is fit and ready to play. Pep picks the team and it is his right to leave Yaya out of the team,” said a source close to Pep Guardiola. Last season, the midfielder featured in 25 appearances and this was largely down to being frozen out of the first half of the campaign. Guardiola was angry with Toure’s agent and it did not select the player due to a fallout with the agent.