Nemanja Matic
Yaya Toure has joked that he hates Nemanja Matic after describing the Manchester United midfielder as the toughest opponent of his spell at Manchester City.
The veteran midfielder will leave City at the end of the campaign after an eight-year spell at the Etihad Stadium, and has just two games left before bidding farewell.
Toure joined City from Barcelona in 2010 and has won three Premier League crowns in that spell. And despite facing a series of stars during his time in the English top flight, he believes Matic is the most difficult of the lot.
Toure declared: ‘I hate him, this b******!
‘He’s such a difficult player to play against. Tall and strong as well. It’s been fun to play against him, even though it’s difficult. He’s powerful, he’s tall. ‘To be able to find an opponent to play against me and stop me… there’s few of them, but Matic was one of the close ones who was able to give me problems.
‘He can run. He can fall back. He can track. He can fight. He’s a good, good player.’
Along with star-studded opposition, Toure has also played with a number of top players during his spell at City.
Unsurprisingly, it is record-breaking striker, Sergio Aguero that he rates as his favourite of the lot.
‘Everybody knows I have a feeling for Aguero. I love Aguero. This guy is such a good striker. He’s complete,’ he said. ‘I love David Silva and Vincent Kompany as well.’
Toure added: ‘I’m going to miss my team-mates, I’m going to miss my little [Raheem] Sterling, my little [Leroy] Sane. They look like my babies.’
The Ivorian’s final home game for City will take place against Brighton on Wednesday evening.