Roberto Mancini wants to take Yaya Toure to Inter Milan.
The duo drove Manchester City to the 2012 Premier League title with Mancini charged with winning Serie A for the fallen giants of Inter.
As they struggle in mid-table ahead of next week’s Europa League ties against Celtic the thought of bringing in the powering midfielder is appealing to the Inter boss.
Toure fell out with Manchester City during the summer over a birthday dispute and could be persuaded to part with the 31-year-old who last signed a contract in April 2013.
Yesterday Mancini said: “Yaya Toure? Piero Ausilio (Inter’s sporting director) – put your hand in your pocket.
“I had Yaya at Manchester City and I think he is one of the best players in the world. It’s not easy, though, because he’s at Manchester City, so it’s up to him and whether he wants to come and play in Italy, after playing in the other major European leagues.
“He’d be a big signing not just for Inter but also for the Italian league’s prestige as a whole.
“Inter have more appeal than many teams, though, so we’ll see what happens in the future, but he belongs to Manchester City at the moment.”
Celtic face St Johnstone today with Ronny Deila determined that his players focus on the trip to Perth with thoughts of Inter firmly on the back burner.
“Inter Milan is coming next week, we know about that but the biggest game is on Saturday,” the Celtic boss said.
“If we have a good performance against St Johnstone then we will take a lot of confidence into the game against Milan.
“I don’t think the team on Saturday will be the same as the team that will play Inter Milan.”
On Sunday Inter travel to face fifth from bottom Atalanta.