Toure wants to stay in premier league

Toure has offers to join Inter Milan in Italy and Chinese club Shanghai SIPG this summer but the player - who has a year left on his £210,000-a-week contract at City - plans to rebuff them in order to prolong his six-year stay in England.

The news is likely to prick the attention of a host of leading Premier League clubs but Toure's preference would be to remain at City to work under incoming head coach Pep Guardiola.

Toure, 33 earlier this month, has been left baffled by suggestions that he has a difficult relationship with Guardiola dating back to their time at Barcelona together. Guardiola sold Toure to City in 2010 - the year after the player won the Champions League with the Spanish giants - but sources close to the Ivorian - insist claims of a problem between the pair are unfounded.

"Yaya is bemused at suggestions there is an issue with Guardiola," a source said. "There isn't. Yaya has offers from other clubs but he wants to stay in England."

Toure's circumstances have not been helped by comments from his controversial agent, Dimitri Seluk, who implied in January that Guardiola was overrated as a coach and claimed that "my grandfather would win the title with Barcelona and Bayern Munich".

Seluk also said that "after what happened at Barcelona, of course it is a worry that when [Guardiola] comes Yaya will be out".

Roberto Mancini, the Inter coach who brought Toure to City, is eager to be reunited with the player in Italy while Shanghai have offered him around £300,000 a week after tax to move to China.

Meanwhile, City are on the verge of announcing the £21.6 million signing of Germany midfielder, Ilkay Gundogan, from Borussia Dortmund.