City didn't let me see dying brother, claims Yaya Toure
Perhaps this is why Yaya Toure has been so upset with Manchester City lately.
He has claimed that the English Premier League champions denied him the chance to spend time with his dying younger brother before the World Cup.
The Ivory Coast midfielder had to join City's end-of-season tour to Abu Dhabi.
Ibrahim Toure succumbed to cancer last week, and Yaya has spoken of his anguish in an interview with French football magazine, France Football.
A translation of the interview which was published in the Guardian read: "I confess that I am still very sad. I'm suffering because I feel I have done nothing useful for him the last few weeks.
"At the end of the season, I wanted to stay for four or five days with my brother before I flew off to prepare for the World Cup, except that City did not want to give me a few days.
"I went to celebrate the title championship in Abu Dhabi while my brother was in his sickbed."
Fortunately, Kolo Toure was at his bedside, he said.
Added Yaya: "After that I blame myself for not insisting and for not leading them to respect me.
"But club officials knew that I had been suffering for a few months seeing the health of my brother decline.
"This is the reason I had several injuries at the end of the season, because my head had taken control of my body. These last four months have probably been the hardest in my life."
Birthday snub
Prior to the World Cup, Yaya's agent Dimitry Seluk claimed that the star midfielder was upset with City over a perceived birthday snub, which the player later confirmed to be accurate.
Given this revelation, it certainly casts Yaya in a much more sympathetic light.
It also explains the look of utter indifference on his face when he was presented with a birthday cake on the flight to the Middle East.
But it does beg the question: Why didn't you say this earlier, Yaya?
Sources: France Football, The Guardian
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