Yaya has plenty to offer the Blues, says Fernandinho
FERNANDINHO believes Yaya Toure should stay at City and help them close the gap on champions Chelsea.
The 34-year-old midfielder will be offered a new one-year deal before his current contract expires next month, but in the run-in to the end of the season he has proved he can still be a key player for the Blues.
But Fernandinho feels that Toure, who is likely to have to take a pay cut to remain at the club, could be important again next season.
Toure has not yet spoken about his future, and in what could yet be his last game at the Etihad Stadium he played a smart one-two with Sergio Aguero to score a fine goal and clinch a 3-1 win over West Brom.
Said Fernandinho: “He’s a top player. Of course I hope he stays.
“We want him in the side with us because he makes our life much easier. And, of course, he has quality.
“When he gets the ball, you don’t know what he is capable of doing – we saw that when he made that one choice with Sergio and scored that beautiful goal.
“He’s shown his quality over the years he’s been here. He’s still a key player for us. We’ll see what happens next season.
“It’s not his thing to let someone decide for him. Everyone has their own life, you have to decide by yourself.
“But, of course, if he asks me for advice I would tell him to stay – he’s a great player.”
City now have their sights set on third place, which they can secure with a win at Watford on Sunday, and which will send them straight into the Champions League group stages.
But the Brazil international believes they will be stronger next season.
“When things go wrong you grow a little bit more and learn more from the mistakes,” he said. “We can learn from the mistakes of this season and the next one will be completely different.
“I hope we will be more consistent, start well, have the same levels in the tough period.
“And I hope at the end of the season we can be fighting for the titles.
“Next season we can be much, much better.”
Chelsea won the title comfortably in the end despite City boss Pep Guardiola’s expectation early in the season that it would go to the wire.
And Fernandinho pinned down the big difference between City and the champions.
“They are two different styles of play,” he said. “We try to play with ball possession, creating a lot of chances and they wait for the opponent and play on the counterattack, and with set-pieces.
“You look at the Watford game and they scored three goals from set-pieces and are very, very strong defensively.”