Yaya says no no to China

MANCHESTER CITY midfielder Yaya Toure has turned down a 520,000 pounds ($643,812) a week offer to play in China, his agent told Sky Sports on Tuesday. Dimitri Seluk said the 33-year-old was targeted by Chinese club Jiangsu Suning in the winter transfer window. The BBC reported he had been contacted again in the current window.

“Yaya plays on another level. He wants to play at the highest level. He’s happy at Manchester City. Yaya likes football more than money,” Seluk was quoted as saying by Sky. Chinese Super League clubs have been flexing their financial muscles, with a number of high-profile recent signings.

Shanghai SIPG bought Brazil midfielder Oscar from Chelsea for 60 million euros ($64.22 million), while their rivals Shanghai Shenhua have signed Argentine striker Carlos Tevez for a reported 84 million euros.

Toure had a difficult start to the season but has clawed his way back into City’s first-team plans in recent months. The Ivorian, who had been a midfield mainstay since arriving from Barcelona in 2010, appeared surplus to requirements after the arrival of manager Pep Guardiola in the close season.

The Spaniard had sold Toure to City when he was Barca boss. Things got worse when the midfielder was left out of City’s Champions League squad, a decision which drew fierce criticism from Seluk, who accused Guardiola of ‘humiliating’ Toure.

In an effort to rebuild the relationship with his manager, Toure apologised fully at the start of November for “misunderstandings of the past” and quickly forced his way back into Guardiola’s plans.

Toure, whose City contract is up in the close season, has now made 11 appearances since late November. Meanwhile, China’s football association is set to almost double its spending in 2017 to improve the standards of the game but even the $98 million fund will look pittance compared to what the country’s top clubs are splurging on overseas players. Driven by football-loving President Xi Jinping, China is using its financial clout to invest in prestigious overseas clubs like Inter Milan, and its own teams are spending heavily to coax marquee players into the domestic game. In the latest high-profile transfer, Shanghai SIPG signed Brazilianinternationaloscarfrom English club Chelsea in a deal said to make him the highest-paid player in the world.

Financial details of Oscar’s transfer have not been released, butmediareportshavesuggested Shanghai paid 60 million euros (about $64 million) to lure the 25year-old to the Chinese super league club. His salary is reported to be over $600,000 a week. China has, however, moved to tighten rules over the number of overseas players in domestic games, amid concerns that the clubs have been over-spending on foreign talent with a rapid growth in the huge fees being paid for high-profile imports.

The CFA said at a conference in central China’s Wuhan that it plans to spend about $98 million, an increase of 45 percent over last year, in 2017 to support the game across the country.