Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has insisted that he did not substitute Yaya Toure and James Milner to give the players the opportunity to say goodbye to the fans.
Toure is rumoured to be considering a summer departure from the Etihad Stadium, while Liverpool and Arsenal have been linked to Milner, who is out of contract in June.
Speculation over the players' futures intensified when Pellegrini took them off the pitch during the second half of City's final game of the Premier League season, which ended in a 2-0 win over Southampton.
"I think the only player who was saying goodbye was [Frank] Lampard," Pellegrini told reporters. "Yaya was returning in the last game after an injury of 15 days, he was very tired and couldn't finish the last game too. I didn't want to give him a muscle injury.
"Milner had a kick on his knee which is why he couldn't finish the game. We'll see, not only for those two, in the future who will stay here or not, but [to let them say goodbye] was not the reason why I changed them."
City finished second in the table, eight points behind champions Chelsea.
Danielle Joynson
