Toure boys united in Manchester

Yaya Toure
12 April 2012

Manchester City new boy Yaya Toure says he turned down overtures from Manchester United because he wants to do "great things" at Eastlands alongside his brother Kolo.

Toure is one of a handful of high-profile players to join big-spending City since the end of last season, with his transfer from Barcelona costing around £24million and earning him wages in the region of £200,000 a week.

"Last year Manchester United were interested in signing me," said Toure, who has joined his brother - a £16million acquisition last summer - on City's pre-season tour of the United States

"When I was talking about renewing my contract, United asked if I wanted to sign for them. In football, you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow.

"United are a big club, one of the biggest in the world, but I chose City because they have not won anything for a long time. It's a very nice feeling to come in and see everything changing.

"It's an interesting challenge for me and I hope everything goes well. I saw a lot of things written about why I left but, for me, I wanted to play with my brother.

"That was very important for me. Now I've signed for City I'm very happy. Now my brother and I want to make great things happen at this club and I'm sure we'll do it.

"My motivation is to do great things with City, to finish second or third maybe, to get into the Champions League."

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