The Ivory Coast midfielder, battling a knee injury that ruled him out of a weekend clash with Burundi, has given up the Spanish sun of Barcelona to join his brother Kolo’s bid to bring City in from the cold.
Champions League winner Yaya does not hide his affection for the Nou Camp when pressed by interviewers, but has assured Blues fans that his priority now is to steer ambitious City to the top of the pile.
He said: “Yes, Barcelona is an amazing club - I enjoyed being there and I won trophies with them. But I am here now at Manchester City and that is my only focus. I want to help City win trophies now.
“People can talk about the weather, but I’m enjoying being in Manchester. I’ve been at a lot of clubs, and I know the weather is not so good here. There’s not so much sun, but it’s OK. Ukraine was a lot colder!
“I don’t know how much time it will take, and we definitely want to win something this season, but it is important to me and the team that we win a trophy, and then another.
It will be for the fans as well as for us
Toure has been having daily treatment for an “irritating” knee problem, and fears that Sunday’s Premier League trip to Blackpool will come too soon to allow Mancini to start him against the Seasiders.
He said: “I need to be careful about coming back. England is not the same football as Spain, and a knee injury can be more difficult here. I want to come back quickly but it might need more time.
For me, it’s irritating. I want to play, but with a knee injury if you’re not careful you can make it worse. I want to play at Blackpool but I don’t know if I can, and you have to be professional about these things.”
Playing or not, he warned: “Blackpool are a good team. It’s not easy to play against a team like that. They have been a big surprise and won 2-1 at Anfield. That’s not an easy result to get, they will be tough.”
