Guardiola: Yaya is part of my plans
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has insisted that midfielder Yaya Toure is part of his plans and remains an important part of his squad.
The Ivorian midfielder, who has played 300 games for Man City, made his first appearance of the season in the 2-1 win over West Brom in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
Since Guardiola arrived at the Etihad last summer Toure has struggled for game time, and didn't made a Premier League start under the manager until November last year.
Toure was a key figure during City's last league-winning campaign in 2013-14 and Guardiola insisted that the 34-year-old is in his plans at the Etihad as they fight on four fronts in all the different trophies.
"We need him and of course it's not easy for the players who didn't play in the last games," he said.
"But he showed his personality because it's not easy for him to play in these types of games but he did it well and that's why we're happy for him to come back.
"We are going to use him. Everybody is going to play. We have a lot of games. Three days later we have a game, then three days later after Stamford Bridge we have the Champions League."