‘There was NOTHING on the back side’: Yaya Toure’s former agent responds to ‘secret payments’ question

Yaya Toure’s former agent Dimitri Seluk has denied receiving secret payments from Manchester City during the midfielder’s time at the club amid a series of charges levelled against the reigning Premier League champions.

That is one of the charges to have been levelled at the reigning Premier League champions following a four-year investigation into dealings at the Etihad Stadium that have uncovered more than 100 potential financial breaches.

City’s case has been passed over to an independent commission, which will rule on any punishments, but Seluk insists he had no involvement in any wrongdoing.

Seluk has told The Guardian when asked about payments relating to his time working with Ivorian midfielder Toure, who spent eight years with City between 2010 and 2018: “No, everything was transparent, there was nothing on the back side. I am interested to see what happens as this was a surprise. Yaya, of course, paid everything – tax and everything. It was all transparent.”

Seluk added when quizzed on whether he would say the same if approached by the commission looking into the charges against City: “Of course. I would tell them the same.”

The allegation had initially been made by German website Der Spiegel, which published documents from the Football Leaks cache that originated with Portuguese computer hacker Rui Pinto.

They alleged that City had overstated sponsorship income, with money being paid by the club’s Abu Dhabi owners rather than sponsors linked to the Gulf state.

These related to sponsorship deals with the Etihad airline, who still sponsor City’s stadium and shirts, and telecoms company Etisalat.

It was alleged the money had actually come from Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group.

The German website also alleged the Abu Dhabi United Group had paid around £3.5 million to Seluk between 2010 and 2015, when Toure was a Manchester City player.