Yaya Toure’s future is again a hot topic as the season draws to an end with a sense of deja vu as we wait to see if he stays at Manchester City or moves on.

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No matter how many times City say, be it through manager Manuel Pellegrini or his team-mates, that the towering midfielder is a vital asset in their quest to win more trophies, speculation and doubt remain.

It was the same last season after the rumpus over not receiving a cake to mark his 31st birthday when the Premier League champions headed out to Abu Dhabi, and the club not giving him compassionate leave when his brother, Ibrahim, was dying of cancer. That left a bad taste in the mouth.

Only Yaya can decide his next step, and he has to stop hiding behind the bluster and just tell the truth.

One day he says he loves the club and is not going anywhere, yet the next there are comments attributed to him, or his agent Dimitri Seluk, that says he is open to new challenges and offers if he feels unwanted.

No one would begrudge him a new challenge and perhaps he needs it to rekindle his love for the game. He will be 32 next month and this is his longest spell at any club.

But the uncertainty, the vague comments, could also be perceived as a message to City to improve his contract, again, with the promise of an ambassadorial role when he quits playing.

And herein lies the problem. As he has been instrumental in City’s rise from mediocrity to winners rather than also-rans, with two league titles, the club have shown how much they value him by making him their best-paid player on a reported £240,000-a-week.

But, on current form, he does not warrant more than say Sergio Aguero right now. Nor does his current behaviour, or inability to control the antics of his advisor, make him a role model or someone to revere.

Either he leaves, or he needs to commit, wholeheartedly, and get back to showing his class and and that he still has much to offer because at the moment he looks a shadow of his former self.

Pellegrini has made him captain in the absence of Vincent Kompany and he needs to lead by example, on and off the field and there wasn’t much sign of that while he was on the pitch on Saturday.

His performances generally this season have been a let-down. He has been nowhere near the fearsome force of the previous campaign where he should have been a contender for the Ballon d’Or let alone English football’s Player of the Year.

He scored 24 goals last season, was imposing and inspired, but has just 10 this time, and defensive inadequacies and dismal displays have been highlighted far too often for his manager’s liking.

As City have struggled, so has he. As they have lost ground on their rivals, Yaya looks to have lost interest.

Apart from one sublime defence-splitting pass to Jesus Navas, he was a peripheral figure in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Aston Villa before being forced off at half time with a hamstring injury.

It would be sad if that injury keeps him out for the run-in and proves to be his final contribution and that fans remember only the lowlights rather his inspirational role in helping City establish themselves among the elite.

He deserves better, and so do City so, for everyone’ sake, he needs to get it sorted one way or another.