Manuel Pellegrini turned down chance to sign Yaya Toure after telling him he wasn’t needed at West Ham (EveningStandard)

Manuel Pellegrini has revealed he turned down the change to bring former Manchester City man Yaya Toure to West Ham as a free agent this summer.

The former Ivory Coast international, who made 133 appearances under the West Ham boss during his time in Manchester, left the Premier League champions at the end of the season.

On Tuesday, his Russian agent, Dimitry Seluk, revealed that the 35-year-old had passed a medical in London, but that the club was not West Ham because: “Yaya is a champion. The last place is not for him.”

In response to Seluk’s comments, Pellegrini said: “The words of the agent of Yaya were unfortunate. Read more