Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure denies he's had a blow-up with teammate Mario Balotelli.

Toure wanted to address suggestions that he and the young Italian confronted each other at half-time at the weekend.

"They said I fought with Mario at Swansea and against Sunderland," he told the Daily Mail. "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."