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Toure's agent Dimitri Seluk told the Sun and BBC Sport that his client was angry that City didn't acknowledge his birthday on a May 13 trip to Abu Dhabi.
"What happened at his birthday meant the club don't care about him. It was proof," he told the Sun. "In a normal team, his teammates and club would at least give him good wishes."
The weird thing is that City did wish him a happy birthday on Twitter:
Join us in wishing @Toure_yaya42 a very happy 31st birthday today! #mcfc pic.twitter.com/j7w7ryCDhy
- Manchester City FC (@MCFC) May 13, 2014
There's also video of the team singing "Happy Birthday" to him and giving him a cake on the plane ride to Abu Dhabi:
When asked about the tweet and the cake, his agent said it wasn't enough. A Russian team once gave Roberto Carlos a Bugatti for his birthday, he said (via BBC Sport):
"He got a cake but when it was Roberto Carlos's birthday, the president of Anzhi gave him a Bugatti. I don't expect City to present Yaya with a Bugatti, we only asked that they shook his hand and said 'we congratulate you'. It is the minimum they must do when it is his birthday and the squad is all together.
"I hear one newspaper has written that City congratulated him from Twitter but this is a joke. It is better they don't put anything on Twitter if they are not saying anything to him."
This all sounds too absurd to be real.
Many have speculated that it's a radical negotiating tactic in order to get Toure a bigger contract. But Toure just signed a new contract last summer.
If the whole thing is some sort of viral hoax, Toure is in on it.
He went on Twitter and said he supports everything his agent has said about him wanting to leave the club over a forgotten birthday (which wasn't really forgotten, but whatever):
Everything dimitry said is true . He speaks for me . I will give an interview after world cup to explain
- yaya toure (@Toure_yaya42) May 20, 2014
Toure was City's best, most consistent player in their 2013-14 title campaign. Losing him would be huge. Losing him over a weird birthday thing would be inexplicably dumb.