From war-torn Africa, via the slag-heaps of the Ukraine and the millionaires’ playground of Monaco, it’s been a tough road to the top for Yaya Toure.
But the new City signing has proved his pedigree time and again, and has the medals to show for it.
The 27-year-old midfield star will bring a whole new dimension to the Blues’ engine room, adding a dynamism and quality which was lacking last season.
If the Ivory Coast star’s box-to-box abilities had been added to the mix last summer, it could have bridged the gap between a fifth-placed finish and the holy grail of Champions League qualification.
The times when Roberto Mancini opted for a three-man brick wall of a midfield, fielding Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong and Patrick Vieira simply did not work.
All three lack the pace to spring forward from the back, which often meant the Blues were short of numbers on the counter-attack.
Kolo Toure’s big little brother – he stands an imposing six ft three ins – solves that problem and with David Silva already in the bag, the Blues already have far more verve and vitality in central areas.
But there is much more to Toure’s game than being a “Firewall”, the nickname he was handed at Barca.
He has de Jong’s physicality and competitiveness, he has Barry’s ability to link play and keep things ticking, and he has Vieira’s smooth technique and intelligence.
His Barca teammate Andres Iniesta was in no doubt of his pedigree, saying: “He helps at the back, and also joins in up front. His ball control is especially good.”
He made his name as an attacking midfielder at Monaco, where coach Laurent Banide rescued him from a depression brought on by his unpopular Romanian predecessor Laszlo Boloni.
Banide recognised Toure’s true potential and in the last seven games of the French season in 2007, he scored five times and hauled the club out of relegation trouble.
His stellar displays earned him a £7.2m move to the Nou Camp, and the start of the big time, but it was a long time coming for the boy from the West African state of Ivory Coast.
Born in 1983 in Bouake, the middle of the three footballing Toure brothers entered an uneasy world.
Ivory Coast suffered from the same problems as most of post-colonial Africa, and in the Toure’s formative years, Bouake became a front between the rebel-held north and the government-held south during the country’s civil war.
Ivory Coast
Football was both a release and, ultimately, a solution as the national team’s qualification for the 2006 World Cup helped to bring the warring factions together. Yaya’s own prowess was soon recognised by the ASEC Abidjan club, based in the nation’s capital. The brains behind that club belonged to former France international Jean-Marc Guillou.
He set up a youth academy which rapidly became a hothouse for rare West African talent, and fittingly became known as the Mimosas.
Yaya was snapped up by the Mimosas, joining a set-up which insisted the boys be educated in maths, history, geography, physics, French, Spanish and English as well as having twice-daily football training sessions.
Yaya flourished in the set-up and he played for the senior team at 19, winning an Ivorian title – ASEC Abidjan claim to have eight million fans in Ivory Coast alone, and are known as the “crown jewels of African football”, having nurtured the talent of some of Europe’s top stars.
Meanwhile, Guillou had left to manage Belgian club Beveren, quickly setting up links between the two clubs.
While Kolo left and headed straight for Premier League stardom with Arsenal, Yaya began a more gruelling route to fame by joining the exodus to Belgium as a 19-year-old.
From there, his career took a bizarre turn, as he was snapped up by Metallurg Donetsk, based in Ukraine.
The man behind the move was Dimitri Seluk and the adventure lasted for 18 months until Seluk’s methods found disfavour and he arranged a move for Toure to Olympiacos.
It was with the Greeks that Yaya truly began to flourish. He helped them to a league and cup double in 2005.
But he fell into dispute with Olympiacos, who refused to deal with Seluk, as a non-registered agent.
Arsenal were sniffing around and made a £5.6m offer in January 2006, only for the deal to fall foul of work permit problems.
Monaco nipped in and picked him up for a bargain £3.9m that summer.
It was not sweetness and light in his new surroundings as Toure fell into disfavour with hard-line coach Boloni, and the team fell into disarray.
Boloni was dismissed, the youthful Banide took over, and restored Yaya to the team. His response was a monumental effort which caught the eye of Barca.
After his £7.2m move, he soon excelled, being named Ivory Coast’s best player in 2008 and 2009, the latter after helping Barca to the treble of league, cup and Champions League.
Now Toure embarks on a new mission, to help City into Europe’s elite, driven by a rare ability and his glimpse of the harder side of life.
What do you think? Have your say.
Yaya Toure a medal professional
July 02, 2010
Showing 1 to 17 of 17 comments | View All
Emjay See supporting City is not being able to wake from a dream that keeps getting better and bette (02/07/2010 at 11:51)
Honestly that girl! I'll have to move house to pursuade her I'm still not interested.
Sheikh Rattle 'n' Roll With It, Bury (02/07/2010 at 12:04)
Chance at the far post.... Hinchcliffe, Gibraltar (02/07/2010 at 12:05)
Sheikh Rattle 'n' Roll With It, Bury (02/07/2010 at 12:07)
Sven's Blonde Fajita (02/07/2010 at 12:07)
Excellent news if he does tho
Andrew Shaw (02/07/2010 at 12:08)
Sven's Blonde Fajita (02/07/2010 at 12:09)
Keep up the good work - great article too
Reverend Ramsden's ringpiece cathedral, Manchester (02/07/2010 at 12:09)
Briz (02/07/2010 at 12:11)
Sweeeeeet
Silva Lining......, Hyde (02/07/2010 at 12:12)
In KAM, GC&RM we Trust. CTID
jdgreenbean, Levenshulme Boy Living in Sunny Rhyl (02/07/2010 at 12:13)
CTID
Tulse Luper, Greater Manchester (02/07/2010 at 12:13)
Emjay See supporting City is not being able to wake from a dream that keeps getting better and bette (02/07/2010 at 12:22)
BluemoonE, Manchester (02/07/2010 at 12:28)
Bigg Boi Mells, In Wolfsburg, negotiating Edin Dzeko's release to MCFC with Steve McClaren (02/07/2010 at 12:37)
Would you prefer 'Brennan' or 'Tevez' on the back (Would remind you of the old days in the Salford Fjords when the The Titanic started sinking....)
BI POLAR BLUE getting better (02/07/2010 at 12:47)
THE HINEMEISTER, Withington deepest Mancunia (02/07/2010 at 17:24)