I love birthdays, I really do. I like the gifts, I like the people telling you that they hope you have a great day and I really like a birthday drink or two. Who doesn’t? Then again, as I strolled into my office on my birthday this year it had never crossed my mind that I was owed something...
I never felt that I was necessarily due the well wishes of my colleagues, or anything else for that matter. In fact, as I clutched a Tesco bag (other supermarkets are also available) containing an assortment of cupcakes, doughnuts and flapjacks, it felt like quite the opposite. Yaya Touré it seems, doesn’t agree.
It’s one of the more eye catching headlines you’re likely to see from the world of Football. ‘Yaya Touré hints at City exit after birthday snub’. Here’s how it played out. Touré turned 31 last week and was presented with a cake by his club while they were away in Abu Dhabi. This was an outrage, apparently. Touré’s agent Dimitri Seluk released a statement, confirming his client’s displeasure with the gesture.
“He got a cake but when it was Roberto Carlos’s birthday the president of Anzhi gave him a Bugatti, I don’t expect City to present Yaya with a Bugatti; we only asked that they shook his hand and said: ‘We congratulate you.’ It is the minimum they must do when it is his birthday and the squad is all together”.
Touré at first took to Twitter to reaffirm his commitment to City but used the same social network less than an hour later to change his tune. Claiming that his agent’s words were true and that he would address it further after the World Cup. Seluk was back speaking on behalf of Touré later the same week confirming that Yaya is in fact upset over the whole situation and is weighing up his options.
I’m delighted that Yeovil Town humorously tweeted a picture of a birthday cake for Touré in a tongue in cheek attempt to sign him. It showed that not everyone in football is blind to how preposterous this all is. If anything, Yaya owes his team-mates some rice crispy cakes or something.
Let’s not get too swept away with Touré and his agent and their comments. I don’t think Touré is ready to turn his back on the club with whom he has just won a second league title, over feeling a little slighted about his birthday. This seems a poorly veiled attempt at a contract negotiation. Most in the football punditry game seem to see through these antics as it is starting to be something we see often.
Touré has 3 years remaining on what is already a very lucrative deal, while on the pitch City are performing well and he has no way of moving on to bigger things. All of which leaves Touré in a poor negotiating position, there’s no logical reason why he should be given a new contract. That’s why a little stunt like this comes into the mix. Touré says he wants to leave, the club don’t want him to, a new improved deal is likely the only compromise.
It all sounds a little ‘Wayne Rooney’, doesn’t it? We’ve seen Wazza declare that he wants to leave Old Trafford only to be handed a bumper pay rise enough times to be cynical when it happens now. It’s the age old story of the boy who cried wolf. If ‘wolf’ is slang for ‘I’m spoilt, give me loads more money’.
When Touré signed his current deal it was unrivalled, but football moves on and that is no longer the case. I’m sure the Ivorian would have looked across Manchester and seen what Rooney has managed to get himself. If Rooney, a player who is arguably less important and easier to replace, can moan his way to a £300k per week contract then why shouldn’t Yaya. And we’re only one or two high profile cases away from this sort of thing happening every week. If it works for Rooney and it works for Yaya Touré (which it probably will) then why shouldn’t everyone do it?
It’s a case of agents trying to create a demand for their clients. A demand when there is none. No one is coming in for Yaya Touré, his contract is iron clad and City have no reason whatsoever to sell. But if you put that seed of doubt in the minds of City’s hierarchy, then Touré turns from simply a great player to a key asset that they can’t afford to lose and will do anything to keep.
It’s not an easy situation for City. They have a player who is already 31 (happy birthday, Yaya) and would probably need a four year contract to be appeased. Nicely timed by Touré, it’s his chance to land a huge contract which will potentially last him for the rest of his career.
The irony is that this season City had a better win percentage without Touré (73%) than they did with him (70%) but I’m sure his agent won’t let that get in the way of these ‘early negotiations’. Touré is an irreplaceable asset that must be held on to. Well, he’s going to get paid like he is anyway.