Toure's birthday cake saga left Man City legend "p****d off"

Publish date: 2024-07-04

Manchester City hero Yaya Toure turns 39 today, and the greater footballing world will be hoping that the big day is marked with a cake.

The midfielder enjoyed a terrific spell at the Etihad Stadium and wrote himself into the club’s history books during his eight-year spell at the club. The Ivorian won the Premier League three times with City, as well as the FA Cup and the Football League Cup twice.

But Toure’s time at City ended on somewhat of a sour note, all stemming from him not receiving a birthday cake on his special day in 2014. Just a few days after City had lifted the league trophy, Toure’s agent Dimitri Seluk criticised the club for not properly celebrating his client’s 31st birthday, stating that the pair had to consider a move in the summer transfer window as a result.

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Having initially denied having a role to play in Seluk’s outburst, Toure then changed his tune by tweeting: “Everything Dimitri said is true. He speaks for me. I will explain more after the World Cup.” The explanation never came, and instead, Toure remained at City and continued to enhance his reputation as one of the best midfielders the Premier League has seen.

Then in 2019, when the incident was largely forgotten, Toure revealed how ‘p***ed off’ he was by the entire ordeal. He explained to The Times: “It’s crazy. The birthday cake [story] damaged me a lot. When people see me in France or Africa, they say ‘You want cake?’

"I was so p***ed [off]. I was telling him [Seluk], you should not do that, no need. I talked with Khaldoon [Al Mubarak, City’s chairman], and I was saying, ‘It is not me, don’t worry’.

“The bad mistake I did was doing [tweeting] ‘OK, he [Seluk] is right’. That’s the one that’s killing me. People started to believe what he said is me. The fans were reading this, thinking bad about me, and I can understand it.

“Before the birthday cake. I accepted it [Seluk’s antics], because I respect [him]. You have to give him credit too because he has helped me through a lot. But he did a lot of bad things. It was too much.”

Toure left City in 2018 and joined Greek side Olympiakos, though only made two appearances for the club. He then joined Chinese club Qingdao Huanghai before deciding to hang up his boots, giving him plenty of time to enjoy every special occasion just how he wishes.

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