Uncle Yaya needs perfect send-off
AT Manchester City he is known with affection as Uncle yaya and the Premier League champions can expect a patriarchal address in the tunnel before kick-off tonight.
yaya Toure is closing the drapes on an eventful eight years in this part of the city. and he does not want his big night soured in any way.
The players in the starting XI will be told that Brighton must be dispatched ruthlessly. Manager Pep Guardiola said yesterday that City want to ‘win for yaya’ and there is a desire to give the midfielder, 35 next week, the etihad send-off he deserves.
This will be his first Premier League start of a personally disappointing season and he wants to finish with a flourish. City plan a presentation at full time to honour Toure’s achievements.
It is why club chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak has renamed a pitch at City’s academy after the Ivorian. youngsters will now pass a mosaic of Toure before training.
‘It’s something you can look at and see how effective you have been,’ Toure said. ‘This club was my first wife — even my wife knew it.’
The mosaic will not be Toure’s sole legacy. He will be revered as one of a clutch of players who took City into a new era.
The goals in the 2011 Fa Cup run — scoring the semifinal winner against Manchester United and then the only goal of the final against Stoke to end City’s 35-year wait for major silverware — were two historic moments.
‘at half- time ( against United) we were nearly fighting in the dressing room,’ Toure revealed. ‘We said go out and play like men — or we go home and say to Khaldoon, “Thank you, we’ve eaten the money but we move on because this club will never achieve”. you saw a different City in the second half. The win was a message. They knew City were coming.’
The rows about birthday cakes and contracts are long forgotten. Those who matter at City know Toure gave everything for their cause.
Guardiola believes Toure can continue playing in england. That is where he would like to stay and he is confident of securing a Premier League move.
‘What these fans and what this club wanted, I have given,’ Toure added. ‘I’m free to go. The most difficult part will be playing against City.
‘ Maybe clubs need my experience. I affect the young guys. Gabriel Jesus was not playing and unhappy. I took him aside and gave him a pat on the back. The manager doesn’t know I’m doing that. That’s why you see the guys sing my name.’
and that is why they call him Uncle yaya.