Toure fires out a warning to his City team-mates

YAYA Toure has warned City’s players they will be ‘removed’ if they fail to land silverware this season.

Pep Guardiola is under pressure to deliver in his second year in charge at the Etihad after enduring his first trophyless season as a manager in his debut campaign.

But Toure claims the entire squad will be held accountable if City do not return to the summit of English football.

The club’s Abu Dhabi owners have backed Guardiola with a £300m transfer budget to turn them into champions this season, with chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak even talking openly about his dreams of an unprecedented quadruple.

Toure accepts City have been unable to maintain the standards of his first three years at the Etihad when he inspired them to two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and League Cup.

And he insists the current generation must repeat that success if they are to stay at the club.

“If we don’t (win) then we will be removed very quickly,” said the Ivorian (right). “City is now a club that has to win something every year.

“I don’t want to say how many trophies we have to win, but it’s important to say we have to win something. I’ve proven that I want to win. In the last two years we’ve not been able to win too many trophies and it’s been quite difficult.

“This year we have to do something because we know most of the teams in the Premier League have a lot of money and are very strong.”

Toure, who signed a new one-year contract at the end of the season, believes City must overcome their wastefulness in front of goal if they are to close the gap on champions Chelsea this season.

He claims it was a problem that resurfaced in Thursday’s 2-0 friendly defeat to United in Houston.

“We are a team that creates more chances than the rest - but our finishing was not so strong last year,” he said. “We showed that (against United.)

“We need to start the season quickly now. If we have the chances we have to score.

“We have to show that killer instinct and be more clinical.

“When the chances come we need to score. It’s the job of the manager to find the right team and right balance because we are very wide and open when we play.

“You saw this with United, two or three counter attacks and they scored two goals. We played proper classic football, but sometimes if we don’t score then it is going to be difficult.”