Manchester city manager Roberto Mancini has said that he is prepared to let the Ivory Coast international defender Kolo Toure leave the club in this transfer window. The Ivory Coast international joined Manchester City from Arsenal for a transfer fee of £ 16 million, but he has fell out of favour with the former Inter Milan manager in recent seasons. He has been getting very little first-team football and the unprecedented spending at Manchester city has meant that Mancini has numerous options at his disposal. There have been a lot of rumours surrounding the future of Kolo Toure and Mancini today confirmed that he will allow the defender leave the club.
The 31-year-old is out of contract at the end of this season. However, the club are not prepared to let him leave on a free transfer and are thought to be holding out for £ 3 million transfer fee. Turkish club Bursaspor have been showing tremendous interest to secure the signature of the former Arsenal defender. Kolo Toure is one of the experienced members of the Manchester city squad, who has won many trophies with previous clubs. Due to the presence of players like Joleon Lescott and Vincent Kompany, Toure has been unable to feature in the first team regularly.
“It is up to Kolo to decide if he wants to go to Bursaspor or not. However, can they meet his demands? ,” Mancini said. Only a few months ago, Kolo Toure was found guilty of testing positive for a banned substance. He failed a drug test and was subsequently banned for six months from playing football. It has further decreased his rank within the Manchester City squad. Despite winning the Premier league title last season, Manchester City are yet to make any significant signings in the summer transfer window.