Former Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland has revealed that Yaya Toure asked him not to leave the club back in 2010.
Ask any City fan who there favourite player of the mid-to-late 2000s was, and there's a good chance they'll say Ireland. The Irish midfielder established himself in City's first team in the 2007/08 season after rising up through the club's youth ranks, and quickly set about thrilling supporters long-starved of quality football.
Ireland continued to impress the following season with City under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour, but in 2009/10 his role in the side diminished and he left for Aston Villa at the end of the season as part of a deal that saw James Milner move to the Etihad Stadium.
