“I try not to get personally involved because I just want to concentrate on giving 110 per cent for City to make sure we get that fourth place in the Premier League,” he told The Sun.

“But it does hurt. It is disappointing. And I repeat, it’s nothing to do with money or me being greedy.

“One thing that I definitely don’t want to do is get into how much other players earn at this football club.

“Obviously, I know there are players here who earn more than twice what I do. But that’s not the issue for me.

His side of the story is that he’s happy to sign a five-year deal, but the club put the talks on ice after Mancini was brought in.