Football
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Yaya Toure 'very happy' at Manchester City, says Manuel Pellegrini

MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini has welcomed Yaya Toure's agent's declaration that the midfielder wants to stay at Manchester City for life.

Dimitri Seluk agitated for Toure to leave the Etihad Stadium last summer after accusing the Premier League champions of not celebrating his client's birthday or showing him enough respect.

And the 31-year-old was noncommittal about his future in a January interview before Seluk came out and said his client, whose current deal expires in 2017, wants to remain in Manchester.

Manager Pellegrini took that as proof that, despite claims to the contrary, Toure is enjoying life in City and refused to rule out extending his time at the club.

"That means that Yaya's very happy here," he said in a news conference. "He's a player who has a lot of criticism this year, always thinking that he wants to go but what you are telling me is just the opposite.

"He's very happy here, he's an important player for us so we will see what will happen in the future."

Pellegrini insisted captain Vincent Kompany will respond well after being blamed for Barcelona's opening goal in Tuesday's 2-1 defeat.

The defender has endured a tough 2015 but Pellegrini feels he has the mental strength to cope.

"Vincent is an experienced player with a strong character," he added. "He must receive the criticism that everyone receives when our team doesn't have the performance that everyone hopes for. I think it's not a problem for him, I am sure that he will have a strong reaction. He is a great player."

City lost to two goals from former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez in the Champions League and now visit Anfield.

And Pellegrini believes the Merseysiders miss Suarez, who scored 31 goals in his final season in England to win the Footballer of the Year award.

He explained: "Of course, Liverpool miss him. For any team to lose Luis Suarez is important.

"Maybe the performance of Luis Suarez in the last year was incredible and you always need a player with that. But the big teams have a lot of other players in the squad."

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