Manchester City midfielder Yaya Touré (center). (Photo : Getty Images)
Manchester City midfielder Yaya Touré is set to be offered a staggering £30 million per year contract by Chinese Super League squad Jiangsu Suning FC, which would make him the third highest paid footballer in the world, recent rumors say.
The Telegraph reported that at least three China clubs are interested in bidding for the 32-year-old Ivorian and one of them, allegedly Jiangsu Suning, is willing to pay him an annual salary of £30 million after tax.
That kind of money will earn Touré "£576,923-a-week in China, which is more than double his current £240,000-a-week salary at City".
At the moment, the highest paid footballer in the world is five-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi, who earns £47.8 million yearly with Spanish La Liga club FC Barcelona. Next to him is Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who has a £39.7 million annual contract with Los Blancos.
The current third highest paid player is Messi's teammate and Seleção captain Neymar, who receives £26.8 million a year also with the Catalonia giants.
Touré recently expressed his desire to leave the Etihad upon receiving news that Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola is set to replace Manuel Pellegrini as City head coach this summer.
Both men allegedly have a beef for each other since the Spanish manager sent the Ivorian out of Camp Nou during their time with Barça in 2009. The 6-foot-2 Bouaké, Ivory Coast native is said to be wary that Guardiola will send him packing again this time around.
Touré's agent, Dimitry Seluk, disclosed of his client's impending departure from England, saying that "I think Yaya will leave the club".
"It's not a question of whether Pep likes him or not. It's life, you know," the agent added, via The Sun.
Reports have also said that Touré is actually leaning on staying with City, but that it is Guardiola who may be keen on selling him when that time comes.
The recent lucrative offer from China would be difficult to pass up for the four-time African Footballer of the Year awardee and it remains to be seen whether he would choose to accept it as he is only has one year left in his Manchester contract before it expires by the end of next season.
