Asked about the rumours linking Barcelona defensive midfielder and Ivory Coast international Yaya Touré (25) with a move away from Barcelona (read more here), the player's agent Dimitri Seluk has said in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that the key element could be the renewal negotiations on the player's salary:
"It's one hundred per cent certain that the player will stay with Barcelona until the end of the season because he wants to stay here. But in June anything can happen because Touré has important offers and I'm sure the club will also receive bids for the player. Touré is playing well and we should take into account that despite having performed at a good level since he joined Barcelona, he still keeps earning the same as when he played with Monaco."
Madrid sports tabloid Marca claims that Touré would at this moment being paid little more than 2 million euro a year while Manchester City could now have offered the Ivorian midfielder a year salary of 6,5 million euro gross.
Barcelona and Touré agreed in 2007 that the player would receive the same salary as he was getting at Monaco but that if things were going well, he would be offered a better contract for this season. But last summer the club argued that a rise wasn't an option because the club didn't win any trophies, while Touré thought he deserved it based on his individual performances. With both Touré and his agent losing money, the player would now be open to listen to offers from foreign clubs.
Despite Touré being happy at the club, Touré will start talking with other clubs if no renewal negotiations are started this year. The tabloid claims that Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola considers Touré to be a decent player but isn't a big fan of the midefielder. Taking into consideration the breakthrough of Busquets, it's uncertain if Barcelona is willing to offer Touré a better contract.
Read more:
Toure leaves all future options open
Bid from Manchester City for Toure
Toure is again an option for Arsenal
Saturday, 10 January 2009
Toure wants a pay rise
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
17 comments:
At this moment, it's more important to tie up new contracts with Eto'o, Puyol and Valdes if possible. Toure's pay rise should depend on Barca success this year (but if it depends on his individual displays he deserves pay rise). I prefer him ahead of Busquets. Also, Barca board should reconsider Man City's offer.
He is the best defensive midfielder, and Barca should give him 6 mil. per year but tie him for next five years with a realse clause 100 mil.
I think that guardiola's view that he was a decent midfielder was before some of his performances this season. I was of the same opinion, but since the madrid clash yaya has really shown what he can do. I think we should renew his contract. He is a valuable piece of the team.
6mil?we are not man city m8.heck puyol isnt earning 6mil.i agree that he should get a pay rise this summer but if he doesnt like the 3,5-4,5 million offer the board will make him he can go to man city, i prefer busquets anyway,also guardiola seems to prefer busquets too.
I wouldn't trade Touré for any other DM in the world. Give the guy a pay rise, he's earned it.
ok fine.... yaya's performance have started to shift a couple of gears up during the latter half of the new season... but he definitely cant e thinking of 6 mil..he deserves a pay rise in th coming summer after helping Barca to atleast 2 trophies... but if he is so adamant in a big pay, then we dont have any other choice than to offload him for a hefty sum... hope he sticks til the summer and takes up a decent pay hike but not to demand too much...
if we agreed that he would get a pay raise this year, he should get one. his play has certainly earned it. we shouldn't get held hostage by an agent who's rumour-mongering and threatening to take him away from the club, but there's nothing more than hints of that now. i think alot will depend on how we do this season; if we win the League or the Champion's League, i doubt the board will fuss over increasing his wages. if not? well then it could get a bit sticky.
no doubt a tripling of salary by moving to Man City is a pretty tempting offer, and we should take his personal loyalty to Barca as a sign of his commitment to the club.
The guy definitely deserves a pay-rise. He is the best in his position in the world and a vital part of his team. He is the crucial hinge around which both attack and defense revolves. I think he is the main reason the defense is having a much better time of it this season. As for Busquets he hasn't yet developed to the point where he can rule that position and cause fear in the opposing team the way Toure can. It isn't the Barca practice to thrust responsibility on youth prematurely and this isn't a time to start it. Without Toure the burden on Xavi will increase and also the pressure on the defense. He breaks up and slows down attacks before they even develop. Give the guy a raise. Make a performance based deal though this might be complicated with a defensive midfielder. As i have said before, Gaurdiola was a ball-distributor of the Xavi mould who never quite had the opportunity to play to his full potential because he was frequently burdened with a defensive midfielder role and he should appreciate the importance of Yaya to this team more than anyone else.
Well said kamikaze. But I'm surprised(well not really since everyone loves flashy players) that you guys didn't rate him highly till several games into this season. So what he did last year with a herniated disk in his back didn't impress you all? He was arguably the most consistent player behind Iniesta last year. He played really well and took little time adapting to the squad. How did he lose that credibility all of a sudden only to gain it back after the Real game and stuff like that? There is no way Guardiola can feel like that about Toure because otherwise Xavi would have more of a burden on his shoulder thus limiting his creative ability. Some of you guys have difficulty realizing that Sergio is BETTER when he is on the pitch with Toure. He is not yet able to dominated the DM position and destroy plays like Yaya does. He is better when he can move around more knowing he has Yaya behind him to cover his back. Busquets is nowhere near the point where he can start as DM in crucial matches and to be honest I don't know if his best position is DM. Yaya should be consider if not the best, then one of the best DMs in the world and if they agreed he would get a pay rise then he should. He is 100% consistent and played hurt and for the team last season. Now you guys are saying let him go we Busquets or stuff like that, I say give him a pay rise and tie him up. He is one of the lowest paid players in the squad and probably the lowest of the starters. This is only addressing those who are seeming to want to let him go too easily.
Yayas contract is off 2011, so it is not a panik. But after the contract is finish the guy can leave free.
With that in mind, i suppose it will not be so easy to consider a NO to 26 milj euro, that City attempts to pay.
It is a lot of money to get in the summer.
So i think it is a big possible that the club will grabe the money and will use it to bring a new player
(who fits more to Guardiolas taste).
Some earlier romours spoke of bringing Xabi Alonso, for instance.
There are many good defence m.f around europe and some will like to play in Barca.
And you don't even have to go long away. There are some good ones also in spain, like Senna in Villarreal or Romaric in Sevilla and so on.
(i only took up some names to give exemples).
Money talks also in fotboll as everyone know.
But one thing i don't like with Citys way is that they will increase the markets prices.
This market is already high enough.
yaya toure is my hero... hope they give him an improved deal, so we can contineu to enjoy this tank weve got...
Loved him from the first day...
I have just one little issue; why do these stories always leak? Can't they settle such issues in the board rooms without alerting the world...
Charles, stories leak because of agents, pure and simple, guys who believe that things are best sussed out in the public eye. Unfortunate.
And apologies to anyone who feels otherwise, but Yaya is as important as any player on the side, including Puyol, Messi and Xavi.
His play compresses the pitch and allows the entire team to play 10 meters farther up the pitch. His passes out of the back start countless attacks, and he is a constant passing outlet for the likes of Xavi, Henry, Messi, et al. Further, when he's in, the midfield is almost always on lockdown. Since our game lives in the midfield, this critical. Watch matches when he isn't in, and how much more defensive work and tracking back for the ball Xavi and the offensive players have to do. And part of why Busquets is so good is because of Yaya.
His injury was as noticeable a part of the side's sudden tailspin last season as anything else. It just amazes me that people don't give this man credit.
If we sell him, we're crazy. Clubs have done crazy stuff before. That other Spanish club sold Makelele, and still haven't fully recovered from that stupid decision.
Pep, that last comment was from me. For some reason it made me "Anonymous," even though I followed all of the steps. Hmmmm.
Well said Kxevin, my post was rather long, but you said exactly what I feel. I don't understand how some people can overlook him like that. I guess if he scores a couple of more goals then people will want him to stay.
And once again people need to realize that Busquets plays BETTER when Yaya is there behind him. I don't even think his best position is that of a DM. He does better when he is able to have mroe freedom and create up the pitch. Yaya makes him feel comfortable because he knows if anything goes wrong Yaya has his back. Why don't people understand this?
The people who suggest Xabi Alonso as a replacement don't seem to understand Yaya's role in the squad. He is there primarily to break down attacks and win back possession. The fact that he is versatile and industrious enough to make himself available all over pitch to support the ball-handler only underlines his importance with the Barca framework. Xabi Alonso on the other hand is a ball distributor who plays at a deeper position than Xavi normally occupies. While this system is perfect for Liverpool and most English teams it is neither favoured by Barca nor in the rest of Spain. Evidence of this can be viewed in minutes of Alonso's playing time with Spain in the Euro. Senna was preferred to him because he is better as a DM and since the main playmaking takes place further up the pitch where Alonso is too slow to play he remained on the bench. Its easy to be distracted by the brilliant passes and through-balls but while making suggestions purportedly in the interests of a team the strategic role a player plays and his performance within that definition should be given predominance.
I can think of only one player I'd rather have for Yaya's position; Essien. If chelsea sells him to buy a striker,(unlikely) the mancity offer may make sense, otherwise give the man his raise.
Post a Comment