West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed that the club turned down the chance to sign Yaya Toure this summer.

Toure had been a free agent after leaving Manchester City at the end of last season, and underwent a medical in London this week which sent fans of all Premier League club’s into meltdown.

Toure’s agent, Dimitry Seluk, tweeted on Tuesday that his client would not be joining West Ham, tweeting: “Yaya is a champion. The last place is not for him.”

And although it has now become clear that Toure will join Olympiakos, Manuel Pellegrini has spoken out about claims the Ivorian rejected the Hammers.

“Unfortunately they were the words of Yaya’s agent,” said Pellegrini when asked about Seluk’s tweet.

“I spoke to Yaya, I know him and appreciate him as a person. He is a very good player but in the moment, when we were doing our squad list, that position was covered for other players.

“We needed money to bring in players in other positions so we explained to Yaya clearly why he cannot come here.

“I hope he will find a good club, a big club because he is a very good player.”
[Quotes via Sky Sports]

So after all that excitement, it seems Toure will be heading to Greece in order to play out the next 12 months of his career. It remains to be seen whether or not the midfielder still has the ability to cut it at a top European club, but we would like to wish the 35-year-old all the best nevertheless.