Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony has urged Manchester City and national teammate Yaya Toure to stay put at the Etihad amid growing interest from Inter Milan.
Inter president Eric Thohir recently confirmed that the club would do their best to bring the 32-year-old to the club:
“How many chances there are to sign him? I can’t say, but what is clear is that we will try in each way to bring him to Inter.”
This comes as another blow to those expecting Toure to stay, after his agent Dimitri Seluk was reported last week saying that his client is “90 percent” certain to leave City at the end of the season, with a reunion with former boss Roberto Mancini at the San Siro the most likely option.
However, Bony, whom Toure had a big hand in bringing to the Etihad from Swansea City in a £28 million deal in January believes that the midfielder must remain at the club despite a disappointing season.
“I talk to him about it all the time. He knows what I think. He brought me here so he needs to stay,” Bony told reporters. “He told me about this being a big club, how we were the champions.
“He told me it was a club that always fights – and I am always a fighter so I liked that. He told me about the pressure, everything.
“For sure everyone wants to keep him here. He’s a legend for this club for sure, he always will be. We hope he stays, he’s a big player here and we know everything he is doing for the club.
“It’s been difficult for him, but you have to remember it’s been three years where there’s been big tournaments, World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations.
“You need to play a lot of matches, you are playing in high temperatures, it’s not easy. Injuries can also occur in that time, the pressure and expectations are high.
“There are some things in football you can’t control, like when the tournaments come round, when you get injured. You just have to try to deal with them and help the team.
Bony has only scored one goal for City in ten appearances since his winter window move.
