Yaya Toure's agent has claimed that the Ivorian superstar is ready to tell Manchester City he is leaving if a new deal is not concluded by this weekend.
Toure's representative Dimitri Seluk says talks have been ongoing for six months over an extension to his current deal, which runs to 2015.
However, Seluk says that things have not gone according to plan and he does not feel that Toure will stay.
"If he signs a contract in the next three or four days, OK. If not, we will not wait any longer and will start negotiations with different clubs," Seluk is quoted by The Sun.
"Today is Tuesday, so it means by Saturday. We will say 'Thank you. OK, Yaya will leave in May.'
"I do not feel he will stay at City. This is not about money. He wants to leave because of many reasons.
"He is one of the best players at Manchester City but does not feel the respect of the staff. Only Roberto Mancini respects Yaya."
Toure, who is currently on international duty, is believed to be City's highest earner already - but it is now claimed that if the new deal is not thrashed out, he will consider buying himself out of the remainder of his deal, which in theory he can do under Article 17 of FIFA's transfer regulations.
"It's all strange. It's not normal to have negotiations for six months about a contract," Seluk continued.
"They have been talking about small details all this time."
Seluk believes that City's owner Sheikh Mansour may need to intervene.
"Maybe if the owner speaks to Yaya, maybe he doesn't know the details," he said.
Update:
Hello, regular commenting on Orange News and Sport pages closes on Thursday 30 May 2013. We will continue to provide a commenting facility on major news and sport events on orangeworld.co.uk. Contact http://orangeworld.co.uk/p/helpandcosts/feedback if you have any further questions. Thanks.
what do you think?
Sandra Bryans
He should remember that respect is a 2 way street
Jim Hill
Hold on, Yaya. looks like you're still under CONTRACT for another 2 YEARS. TIme to shut your mouth and play for that 200k a week.
samy ali
If i was getting 200k a week, i wouldnt care if i wasnt respected... i would laugh at them all the way to the bank
Graham Dunn
Disgusting attitude in our current financial climate. He isnt a ronaldo or messi who win games by themselves week in week out. Let him leave i wouldnt think many clubs could afford that kind of money
Jaryd Govindan
poor city. ggmu
TayoOtokiti
That's City's main problem. Too many MERCENARIES.
Jaryd Govindan
they want to be like the galactico's of madrid. it works but only to a certain extent. buying world class players doesnt make your team world class. you need to build a world class team. success is earned not bought.
Martin Massey
It's the agent saying this not yaya so far, he's a great player.
Mathew Turner
8:29am on 20/3/2013
This comment has been removed for violations of our Terms and Conditions.