Yaya Toure is eying a return to international football with Ivory Coast when his country resume their Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign next March.
Manchester City star Toure has taken a break from international commitments since captaining Ivory Coast to glory in the continental competition in February.
Toure is not a part of Michel Dussuyer s squad for the back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against Liberia over the coming week, but the 32-year-old told his national federation s official website that he is not closing the door on his international career.
I am not part of the squad list for the games against Liberia, but my heart is with them, Toure said.
I think the next fixture after this will be in 2016, when the qualification for the 2017 African Nations Cup continues. In any case, I ll be ready.
On his time away from the Ivory Coast setup, Toure added: With all due respect to our new coach, Michel Dussuyer, I wanted to have a moment of respite.
Toure has started 17 of City s 18 matches in all competitions this season, scoring three goals.