Yaya Toure announces international retirement on a dramatic day for the Manchester City midfielder .
Yaya Toure has announced his retirement from international football on the day that Pep Guardiola cast fresh doubt over his Manchester City future.
Toure has only played once for City this season – and hasn’t been included in any of Guardiola’s Premier League squads.
And he is set to miss Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie with Swansea, with City’s manager revealing the Ivorian international will be exiled until he apologises for comments made by his controversial agent.
Dmitry Seluk claimed Toure had been humiliated by Guardiola’s decision to omit him from City’s Champions League squad.
While the 33-year-old midfielder’s club future looks in serious doubt, he has drawn a line under his international career – describing the decision as ‘the most difficult match of my life.’
In a statement he said: “Thank you to the Elephants!
“Writing this note was probably ‘the most difficult match of my life.’ After 14 years at the highest level, I’m sure this is the right time for me!
“The fact that I am 33 now, the intensity of training and the multitude of games are not the reasons why I am making this decision. Football is everything to me and it gave me so much in my career that I no longer feel able to set myself new goals as a player with the Elephants of Ivory Coast.
“This decision I have made has come gradually, it has slowly matured in my head. I definitely thought it necessary to wait until the qualifying stages for the next AFCON were over. It was also important for me that I do not disturb the dynamics of the national team.
Man City Midfielder Yaya Toure Issues Statement
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