With Yaya Toure turning 32 on
Wednesday, Manchester City were sure not to miss their chance wish the Ivorian
a happy birthday and avoid the farcical events which followed last year's
occasion.
Toure's
agent Dimitri Seluk complained the club's lack of a cake presentation for his
player's 31st in 2014 was major problem and led to serious conjecture over his
future in sky blue.
The club
was quick to offer their best wishes early on Wednesday morning on Twitter,
although there is still no news on the contentious cake.
'Join us
in wishing @YayaToure a very happy 32nd birthday today! #mcfc,' said the club's
official account in a gesture afforded to all players.
Manchester City made certain to mark Yaya Toure's 32nd birthday on Wednesday after last year's farce
Wembley marked Yaya's birthday with a look back at his FA and Capital One Cup final goals at the stadium
The tweet
has, naturally, been followed by a host of amusing responses from internet
jokesters including the account Boring James Milner, a spoof of his City
team-mate.
Toure
used his birthday to make a serious point about racism in football and sport as
a whole and called upon officials to bring in radical sanctions against
offenders during the Fifa launch of a new system in which match observers
monitor incidents of discrimination.
This followed a festive response from fans keen for him to stay who sang Happy Birthday while others made giant cards that were held up during City's 6-0 romp over Queens Park Rangers on Sunday that saw the Londoners sent back to the Championship.
Amid the
latest speculation about Toure's future at City, with Seluk this year saying
the midfielder is '90 per cent certain' to go elsewhere in the summer,
countryman Wilfried Bony urged him to stay.
His
official Twitter account said: 'My birthday wish is we all stand together
against racism. #SayNoToRacism'
A post from WILLIAM HILL shows a 'gesture' of
best wishes from Toure's former club Barcelona in Spanish
It was
Toure, after all, who urged Bony to leave Swansea for Manchester in January and
the striker is not alone among the City players who want him to stay on.
'For sure
everyone wants to keep him here,' Bony said. '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.'
Paddy Power forked out for a plane to fly their birthday congratulations to Yaya over the Etihad Stadium
Last
week, manager Manuel Pellegrini joked that 'it is important to learn from the
mistakes' of the past in regard to the club doing enough to show Toure he is
special to them.
Toure is
being eased back into action with Pellegrini playing him for only 15 minutes at
the weekend as he comes back from a hamstring injury.
Toure has
eight league goals this term, less than half of his tally last year, and
certainly nowhere near the amount of cake gags doing the rounds.
Cake makers Mr Kipling made a custom French fancy, City's sky blue of course, in honour of Toure's birthday
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