Manchester City star Yaya Touré and his agent Dimitri Seluk have joined together to donate £50,000 each to the families of victims of the Manchester terror attack.
A suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena on Monday night killed at least 22 people and injured at least 59 more.
Messages and tributes flooded in from the footballing world for the victims caught in the attack, and Touré also took to Twitter to share his thoughts and prayers.
He told Sky Sports News: "The news an eight-year-old girl went to see her favourite singer and didn't return home is too much to bear.
"Yaya and I want to help. We talked this morning about what happened and he asked me what he thought we could do.
"We have agreed to donate £50,000 each to help the victims of this terrible crime. It doesn't matter whether the victims are from Manchester or not.
"Those of us lucky enough to work every day in football can do so because of the generosity of fans across the world.
"Yaya is from Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), I am Russian. It doesn't matter. Today is a chance for those of us in football to help out.
"My son is eight years old and I can't image the pain and the suffering that the parents of Saffie will be going through today."
Among the 21,000 fans at the concert were City manager Pep Guardiola's wife and two daughters, all of whom escaped unharmed.
A JustGiving page has also been set up by local newspaper Manchester Evening News with the aim of raising money for victims of the terrorist attack.
To donate go to: www.justgiving.com/westandtogethermanchester
A suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena on Monday night killed at least 22 people and injured at least 59 more.
Messages and tributes flooded in from the footballing world for the victims caught in the attack, and Touré also took to Twitter to share his thoughts and prayers.
Eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos was one of the victims of the bomb attack, and Seluk cited her death as a reason behind his planned donation.Such terrible news in Manchester. Thoughts and prayers with all those affected 🙏🏾
— Yaya Touré (@YayaToure) May 23, 2017
He told Sky Sports News: "The news an eight-year-old girl went to see her favourite singer and didn't return home is too much to bear.
"Yaya and I want to help. We talked this morning about what happened and he asked me what he thought we could do.
"We have agreed to donate £50,000 each to help the victims of this terrible crime. It doesn't matter whether the victims are from Manchester or not.
"Those of us lucky enough to work every day in football can do so because of the generosity of fans across the world.
"Yaya is from Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), I am Russian. It doesn't matter. Today is a chance for those of us in football to help out.
"My son is eight years old and I can't image the pain and the suffering that the parents of Saffie will be going through today."
Among the 21,000 fans at the concert were City manager Pep Guardiola's wife and two daughters, all of whom escaped unharmed.
A JustGiving page has also been set up by local newspaper Manchester Evening News with the aim of raising money for victims of the terrorist attack.
To donate go to: www.justgiving.com/westandtogethermanchester
