Manchester City can challenge Real Madrid if they continue to spend believes

The 32-year-old Ivory Coast global midfielder had been heavily linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium this summer when his agent Dimitri Seluk claimed he was certain to depart for pastures new.

Asked about how close he came to joining his old City boss Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan, Toure said: ‘He is one of the great coaches but my contract is with City.

And he reasserted that position in Melbourne today, as the the Blues prepare to face Real Madrid tomorrow in their latest pre-season tour match.

After splashing £49 million on Raheem Sterling, Toure is hoping City’s Abu Dhabi-based owner sanctions more top signings this summer with Wolfsburg’s £50 million-rated Kevin de Bruyne on the radar. Even though the manager was saying I was happy and staying at the club, people still speculate. “I just want to play football in this shirt, for this club and for these fans”. I have been at City for five years now I have always been criticised about what I am doing.

“Football is everything to me and I know my job”. We hope they will give us a massive boost.

“This year will be a massive challenge for the club, the players and the manager and we need to bounce back after last season”.

It will take time to measure the real effect of having New York City FC in MLS but at least initially, the new club’s affiliation with EPL giant Manchester City seems like a great ancillary benefit to the league in general.

“If such a thing does happen, we have a commitment to our players to deal with it seriously”.

He added: “I’ve always known that I can play until 40 because I know my quality, and that’s all”.