Manchster City great Yaya Toure has opened up on his past birthday cake controversy.

The midfielder, 36, was the centre of the infamous episode shortly after helping Manuel Pellegrini's side to their second Premier League triumph in the space of three seasons in 2014.

It came after Dimitri Seluk, Toure's agent at the time, criticised City for not properly celebrating the Ivorian's 31st birthday after his significant contribution to their success that season and suggested he might leave the club as a result.

“It's crazy. The birthday cake damaged me a lot," he explained to The Times.

"When people see me in France or Africa, they say 'You want cake?'

"I was so p***ed [off]. I was telling him [Seluk], you should not do that, no need.

"I talked with Khaldoon [Al Mubarak, City's chairman], and I was saying, 'It is not me, don't worry'."

Toure admitted that the saga affected his relationship with fans.

“The bad mistake I did was doing [tweeting] 'OK, he [Seluk] is right'," he added. "That's the one that's killing me.

"People started to believe what he said is me. The fans were reading this, thinking bad about me, and I can understand it.

“Before the birthday cake. I accepted it [Seluk's antics], because I respect [him].

"You have to give him credit too, because he has helped me through a lot.

"But he did a lot of bad things. It was too much."