Yaya Toure: If I could pick one Manchester City player for Ivory Coast, it would be Mario Balotelli

EXCLUSIVE
By Greg Stobart | Northern Correspondent

Yaya Toure has revealed that if he could choose one Manchester City team-mate to turn out for the Ivory Coast alongside him, he would pick Italy international Mario Balotelli.

Toure is currently away on Africa Cup of Nations duty, preparing for a quarter-final against co-hosts Equatorial Guinea, and he admits he would like it if his City team-mate was able to line-up with him for The Elephants.

The former Barcelona midfielder claimed he would pick Balotelli ahead of any other City player to play for his national side, mentioning him ahead of illustrious names such as David Silva and Sergio Aguero.

Balotelli is momentarily out of action as he serves a four-match ban for an alleged stamp on Scott Parker’s head, and while many criticise the Italian for his often erratic behaviour, Toure is firmly of the belief that the talented striker is purely misunderstood, insisting he is as committed as anyone.

Toure told Goal.com: “If I could choose one City player to play for the Ivory Coast it would be Mario.

“Whatever you hear about him is just newspaper stuff and I wish I had been as committed as him when I was his age.

“He is such a powerful guy and his concentration levels are unbelievable.

“He is young, so sometimes one or two things he does are maybe misunderstood but for me it is all part of his charm.

“You cannot take away his quality on the field and in the end that is what really matters.”

Since Toure left for international duty, City have lost three of their last six matches in all competitions, getting knocked out of both the League Cup and FA Cup in the process, while their talismanic midfielder may not be available until late February should Ivory Coast reach the Afcon final.