Barcelona are unsure whether Yaya Toure's decision to join Manchester City was influenced by his brother Kolo Toure. Toure joined Manchester City this week but Rosell revealed he wanted the midfielder to stay at Barca.

"We don't know if it was his agent or his brother (City defender Kolo Toure) who pressured him to leave for City, but we tried (to get him to stay), although when a player is not 150% sure he wants to be at a club, it is better for everyone if they move on," he said.

Kolo Toure, vice-captain of the side, told New African magazine in April he was under no illusions about the work ahead if things were to improve before South Africa.

“We have failed as a team and we keep failing,” he said. “I have failed; we have all failed. We have good players like Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure but we need to gel.

“It is not important to have great players but it is important to have a great team and at the moment we don’t have that. We are still searching for that.

“We have individuals but as a team we are very weak at the moment.”

Manchester City defender Kolo Toure admitted he was pleased to hold Arsenal to a goalless draw at the Emirates, even though the result keeps the Citizens behind Tottenham Hotspur in fifth place in the Premier League.

The game, which saw few chances for either side, means the Gunners are now mathematically out of the title race whilst City remain outside of the Champions League places.

However, speaking to ESPN after the game, Toure insisted that a point at the Emirates was a good result for Roberto Mancini’s men.

Toure said: "Shay is a massive player for us but we saw a young goalkeeper come on against Arsenal and he did really well. As a team we will protect him and try to help him and try to make him really confident for the three games coming. As a team we will help him and try to make him really confident. I am sure he can be really important for us."

Romford-born Taylor, a free signing last summer from Aston Villa, is hoping to return to training this week.

"When you play with somebody and you don't even talk to each other on the pitch it's really difficult," he said. "Me and Gallas ... we didn't talk to each other at all. One of us had to go and it was me. It was coming down to me really because I didn't want to put the team in a difficult position, so I was the one who said I wanted to go.

Kolo Toure promised to protect Gunnar Nielsen after Manchester Ciy's Champions League hopes were placed in the hands of the rookie Faroe keeper.

With three games remaining, Roberto Mancini's side have closed to within a point of Tottenham with their May 5 clash at Eastlands looking likely to decide fourth place. But unless Stuart Taylor recovers in time from a knee injury, the shoulder dislocation suffered by Shay Given means the Arab-backed millionaires will have the 23-year-old Nielsen in goal for their biggest matches of the season.

KOLO Toure has backed Manchester City to handle the pressure of securing Champions League qualification.

Roberto Mancini’s men are locked in a fierce battle with Tottenham, Liverpool and Aston Villa for a fourth-place finish in the Premier League.

He said: “When you think of players such as Dedryck Boyata, Abdi Ibrahim and Greg Cunningham coming through, plus Adam Johnson signing in the transfer window, the future looks bright.

“We have a lot of good people here who really want to work for the club and believe in the club.