Yaya Toure says he deserves more recognition.

Yaya Toure

Manchester City and Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure thinks he is not regarded as one of the best players in the world because he is from Africa.

He feels countryman Didier Drogba and Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o are also undervalued because they are African.

The 30-year-old says some people still regard Africans as "animals not human beings".

Club-mate Samir Nasri recently said Toure would be celebrated as one of the world's best midfielders if he was not African.

In an exclusive interview for Football Focus on BBC World News, Toure said: "I think what Samir was saying was definitely true."

"To be honest, proper recognition has only come from the fans," said the three-time African player of the year. "I don't want to be hard and I don't want to be negative, but I want to be honest."

Toure feels the media should do more to promote African players.

"If we play well and we don't have the recognition from the media, we are not going to be where we want to be," he said.

Who agrees with this?

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27074317