Manchester City Transfer News: Rumours on Yaya Toure, Kevin De Bruyne

The agent of Yaya Toure says that his client wants to stay with Manchester City for the rest of his career—and perhaps even beyond that—in response to recent rumours about a possible transfer.

Goal UK shared the agent's comments, which came during an interview with the Sunday Mirror:

As reported by Goal's Harry Sherlock, the Ivorian's agent, Dimitri Seluk, is adamant that his client is happy, and he believes he would command an astronomical transfer fee:

"

Yaya loves Manchester City and, despite what is sometimes said, he is happy at the club.

In fact, he would like to stay for life. He would love nothing better than to finish his playing career with City and then work for the club after that.

That’s why I want City to give Yaya a new contract, to show him that they want him to be part of the future. It is not about money. It is about keeping Yaya at the club until his playing days are over and showing the club’s best player that he is respected and loved.

Sheikh Mansour wouldn’t sell Yaya – not even for £250million.

I am sure that Mancini would love Yaya at Inter, but every manager in the world would want to work with him.

"

It's easy to see why Seluk made those comments—in fact, the agent gave himself away the moment he stated that he wants the Citizens to hand Toure a new contract.

The veteran midfielder signed a new deal in 2013, via the Daily Mail's Ian Ladyman, but despite the Ivory Coast international ranking among the club's highest-paid players, the 31-year-old started asking for a new contract one year later, via the Daily Mirror's David Anderson.

Toure remains one of the club's most pivotal players, as this statistic from Squawka highlights:

He's also 31 years old, and while he's still one of the world's best midfielders, one has to wonder how much longer that will last. By the time his current contract ends—2017—his form will likely have started to drop. And with a loss of form usually comes a loss of value.

If Toure is not offered a new deal during the current season but instead plays out his deal until the end of the 2016-17 campaign, his advanced age and loss of value will result in a lower offer from City. Even if his form doesn't fade, the fact he's that much closer to the end of his career would impact a deal.

City knows this as well, so even if he stepped into the team fresh off an Africa Cup of Nations win and immediately became the Citizens' passing leader, they'd likely have reservations about a new contract:

The Daily Star's Paul Hetherington believes that City are in pole position to bring Wolfsburg's Kevin de Bruyne back to the Premier League, although his massive price tag could stand in the way of a potential deal:

"

Manchester City are closing in on a Chelsea reject – Kevin de Bruyne.

But a major stumbling block to a Premier League return for the Wolfsburg winger is the Bundesliga club’s staggering valuation on him of £40million.

De Bruyne, 23, left Chelsea only a year ago for £17m, complaining that he had not been given enough opportunities by Stamford Bridge boss Jose Mourinho.

But the Belgium wide boy – an international team-mate of City skipper Vincent Kompany – has been in sensational form in Germany.

"

De Bruyne has gone from potential bust with Chelsea to Bundesliga star, leading Wolfsburg to second place in the German league with a series of fantastic displays.

The Belgium international has also been great on the European stage, via WhoScored:

He's made a big impression on a number of German pundits and football writers, including Alex Chaffer of DW Sports:

De Bruyne's ability both as a scorer and as a creator has served the 23-year-old well in Germany, and looking at his success there, it's easy to see why English teams would once again be interested. Jose Mourinho didn't rate the Belgian, but his loss could be another team's gain.

The Belgian is finally enjoying regular football and on the verge of starting in the Champions League, however, and it's very doubtful that he'll be willing to leave his current situation after just one season.

Wolfsburg are building something special, as evinced recently by their decisive win over Bayern Munich, and you don't leave a project like that for the unknown so quickly, especially after the things that happened in West London.

Wolfsburg are right to hold out for a reported £40 million, and don't expect the midfielder to leave Germany for anything less.

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