Soccer:Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has insisted claims he had a dressing-room fight with team-mate Mario Balotelli are not true and have upset both players.

Reports alleged the pair had a bust-up at half-time in City’s 3-3 draw at home to Sunderland last weekend and clashed previously in the defeat at Swansea. But Toure said he views Balotelli as a “brother” and “loves” him.

“They said I fought with Mario at Swansea and against Sunderland. That shocked me. My lawyers called me about this and it was the first I knew about it. It’s just not true. It didn’t happen. I am a footballer, not a boxer. People don’t know my relationship with Mario.

“He’s not my friend, he’s my brother and I love him. To say we had a fight is very sad. It upset me and I feel sorry for Mario. He suffers most from these things. At half-time against Sunderland it was very difficult. We are trying to win the league and are losing 2-1.

“It’s not good. But everybody was quiet. We were just looking at each other, trying to find a way to turn the result. But I didn’t even talk to Mario. The next day he sent me a text message saying, ‘Apparently we had a fight’. I just want to stop people writing and thinking that.”