Roberto Mancini optimistic about reunion with Yaya Toure
The reunion of Yaya Toure with former manager Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan would be a step in the right direction toward improving the talent pool at the beleaguered club.
The Inter Milan boss confessed that luring Toure away from Manchester City is a priority for the club, but also looked at the big picture and stressed the need to bring elite players back to Italy in an effort to restore the country's status among Europe's top leagues.
"He's still a City player so we're not talking about anything definite yet, but if he were to join Inter, then it would be a big thing for Italian football," Mancini told Sky Italia.
"We need to get top players back. We're going to give it a go, there's no doubt about that."
Expressing his optimism is one thing, but Mancini is going to have a bigger task of convincing management to pony up the massive transfer fee City will undoubtedly demand.
Toure's been a critical component during the team's two Premier League-winning campaigns, and they will likely look to make a profit on the £24-million transfer fee they reportedly paid Barcelona in 2010 for the Ivorian midfielder.
Their estimation of Toure's worth, however, could take a hit if he displays the same disruptive attitude that led to exit rumours last summer when his agent claimed he was unhappy with how the team celebrated his birthday.
- With translation from ESPN FC