Transfer talk: Yaya Toure looking close while intrigue surrounds Dzeko and Ibrahimovic

Last night the Catalan radio station RAC-1 reportedly claimed Yaya Toure was set to sign for City. Sport.es followed up the story today by claiming his representative, Dimitri Selçuk, was due to meet Barca’s Txiki Begiristain to discuss the move.

Sport claims Sel̤uk needs Barca to decide a fee, while the club claim interest from Chelsea and Manchester United Рpresumably to try and inflate the price a little. Barca, like ourselves, appear to be a club in a hurry this Summer as they look to boost their finances for the Fabregas transfer. This could be good news for getting a deal done before the World Cup.

Elsewhere in Sport there was an article claiming Roberto Mancini is in regular telephone contact with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and would love to sign the Swede. Sport has good ties with Barca and points out that while Vice President Rafael Yuste claims “Ibra is very happy here” it’s an ‘open secret’ that an offer of 45-50 million euros would see him sold. It goes on to claim Ibrahimovic would welcome a new challenge in England. No complaining about the rain in this piece!

Interest in Ibrahimovic might explain City playing it cool over Dzeko. Mark Ogden wrote in the Telegraph:

“While Dzeko, 24, is among Mancini’s top targets this summer, City are determined not to pay over the odds for his services.

“Mancini has told City chief executive Garry Cook that Dzeko’s realistic valuation is between the £20-25 million mark. City remain keen to do business with Wolfsburg if they lower their asking price.”

In a rapidly changing transfer scene it now looks like Yaya Toure could be favourite to follow Jerome Boateng in signing up for the City challenge.

• What do you make of the latest news?