Toure staying put with Barca

Published: 16 Jun 2009 - 15:14:00

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Yaya Toure is about to end several English clubs' hopes of signing him by putting pen to paper on a new deal at Barcelona, his agent has revealed. Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City have all been linked with a move for the Ivory Coast midfielder, but he is keen to stay with Catalan Treble winners. Cesc Fabregas stated this week that Toure, who is the brother of Arsenal defender Kolo, would be the ideal signing for the Gunners to bring stability and strength to their midfield, but Arsene Wenger is going to have to look elsewhere. "He is very happy at Barca and in the city," Toure's representative Dmitri Seluk is quoted as saying by Sport. "The atmosphere within the club is excellent and the team is marvellous and for those reasons he wants to stay and we should have a deal done this week." The tone is different from the one used by Seluk when he launched a scathing attack on the Blaugrana recently, accusing them of reneging on agreement to help Toure more. Seluk accused Barca of not looking after Toure properly, while he also accused president Joan Laporta of praising every other player bar his client.