Analysing the Yaya Toure Conundrum Facing Manchester City and Manuel Pellegrini

Manchester City face a number of tough decisions this summer after a disappointing season.

They won the league in style less than 12 months ago but have failed to progress this term and find themselves in a battle to finish inside the top four.

They go into this Saturday’s teatime game with Aston Villa seven points ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool, but the Anfield club have a game in hand.

When the anaemic performances in both domestic cup competitions and another last-16 exit in the Champions League are added into the mix, a murky picture emerges.

There will be plenty of changes to the makeup of City’s squad in the summer. The exits of Micah Richards, Alvaro Negredo, Matija Nastasic and Scott Sinclair look certain to be confirmed, while James Milner, Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic, Aleksandar Kolarov and Dedryck Boyata are likely to attract interest from elsewhere.

Jon Super/Associated Press

And then there’s the future of midfielder Yaya Toure. Along with his agent, he continues to make noise suggesting a move away from the club could be on the horizon.

Toure seemingly hinted at wanting a new challenge in a recent interview with Foot Mercato (h/t Mark Ogden of the Telegraph):

"

Today, I am living the dream of thousands of little boys. I represent my continent, Africa, and that has no price. 

No amount of wages will make me stay at a club if I feel that I no longer belong there or if no challenge exists for me. It would be unjust on my part.

For the future, I don’t know more than you do, because I will always go where I am offered new challenges. That is in my nature.

When things are not necessarily going well in a club, the key players take the fall.

I am not the only one to have been attacked even if there is tendency to be harsher with me.

Football is my passion, my job and that gives me two good reasons to do as well as I can. I accept criticism if it helps me to improve and I ignore them when their aim is simply to break me.

...

PSG is a great club who, I think, is not finished growing and also a big club where any great player can find a place for themselves and make a contribution.

"

It’s become a familiar story.

Every season, his agent, Dimitry Seluk, drip-feeds quotes to the press that he knows will stir trouble, usually in an attempt to secure his client a pay raise. The latest were reported this week by Sky Sports.

But with Toure set to turn 32 next month and having struggled to recreate his best form this season, is it time for the club to consider offers for the midfielder?

It’s certainly a divisive issue.

On the one hand, replacing him is almost impossible. There are no other midfielders in Europe who possess the same mix of attributes he does. He has pace, power, intelligence and an ability to run with the ball at speed and commit defenders. He can score goals—24 in all competitions last season—and dictates the tempo of games when he’s at his best.

Since his arrival at City in 2010, he’s written himself into club folklore. The winner against Manchester United in the 2011 FA Cup Semi-Final was followed up by another in the final against Stoke City, bringing an end to City’s 35-year wait for a piece of major silverware.

The following season, as City won the title for the first time in 44 years, Toure emerged as one of the most influential players at the club, given licence to attack and score more goals.

Then-manager Roberto Mancini struck upon an effective tactic that saw him bring Nigel De Jong into games to free Toure, and City found an added dimension to their play.

The best example of it was against Newcastle in the penultimate match of the season. City needed a win to go into the last day in pole position, and Toure struck two wonderful goals in the last 20 minutes to move them to within an inch of the Premier League title.

And then last season, manager Manuel Pellegrini’s first in charge, saw Toure confirm his status as one of the club’s greatest ever players.

He was irrepressible for much of the campaign, scoring 20 league goals as City won the title in style. He also bagged a memorable 30-yard strike in the League Cup Final win over Sunderland at Wembley Stadium, one of many world-class goals he’s scored in a blue shirt.

This season has been a frustrating one for Toure, though. He lost his younger brother, Ibrahim, in the summer, something which appears to have affected him. He’s managed just 10 goals in all competitions this season, with his overall influence also diminishing.

Gven his age, perhaps it's time to consider offers, but City know replacing him would be far from easy. They'd need a blend of two players to make up for his loss.

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba certainly looks the best fit to replace the Ivorian, but even he would struggle to recreate Toure at his best.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard.