Kolo Toure has confirmed that he is set to stay at Liverpool in the coming campaign after rejecting the offer of joining Turkish club Trabzonspor. The former Arsenal and Manchester City defender is one of the experienced players in the squad. He has also lifted the league title with two different teams. Despite this, there have been transfer rumours linking Toure with a move away from Anfield. The 33-year-old came to Anfield only last summer on a free transfer from City. He almost became the first player to win the Premier league with three different teams, as Liverpool finished second.

However, Toure found first-team opportunities hard to come by in the second half of the season. Brendan Rodgers struck with the Toure and Martin Skrtel partnership in the first half of the season, but several mistakes committed by the Ivory Coast international meant that he lost his place. Toure never returned back to being a first-team regular, which was the primary reason behind transfer rumours linking him with an exit. The 33-year-old only has 12 months of his contract, but this is unlikely to worry Liverpool much given that he was a free transfer in the first place.

Trabzonspor officials recently said that Liverpool had agreed to sell the defender for £ 1.5 million, but Toure has rejected the opportunity.

“Trabzonspor are interested in me but I have expressed my pleasure at being a Liverpool player. Yes, it is always a possibility to join a lower league for more playing time but I am a competitor and I decided to stay at Liverpool. The season is full of matches in the league and Champions League and I know I have time to prove I’m still hungry but I know I will not play every game, that’s for sure,” said the defender.