Kolo Toure

YassineToure has been offered a two-year scholarship deal at Leicester City after impressing club officials. Yassine is the son of Leicester City assistant manager KoloToure and the nephew of Manchester City legend Yaya Toure.

Leicester City youth player YassineToure is hoping to follow in the footsteps of KoloToure and Yaya Toure by becoming a Premier League player. KoloToure started his professional football career at ASEC Mimosas before signing for North London giants Arsenal where he became an established Premier League player. He was part of the historic Arsenal team that went through the entire Premier League season without a defeat on the way to winning the title in 2004. KoloToure went on to play for Manchester City and Liverpool before calling time on his professional football career at the end of his time with Scottish Premiership Celtic. Continue reading YASSINE TOURE OFFERED LEICESTER CITY DEAL

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that he is very much open to the idea of using summer signing and England international defender Ben White in the midfirkder position following the current crisis that the club are facing in that department at the moment. The Gunners are currently missing a host of first-team stars in that position and it was one of the reasons they were linked with a number of midfielder in the January winter transfer window in a bid to bring in temporary reinforcements but they were not able to do so.

The club’s midfield problems have now led Arteta to suggesting that he could be forced to utilize White in a midfield role as a result. According to the Spanish manager, former Brighton and Hove Albion defender Ben White is a very versatile player and has the ability to handle the role pretty well. Arteta added that White has already shown some glimpses in the team’s training and displayed some signs of readiness to cope with playing in an unusual role.

If White is thrown into the midfield position by Arteta, he would be just one of the several defenders who have played in that position for the Gunners in recent years. Kolo Toure, Callum Chambers, and Thomas Vermaelen are a part of those players who have taken up such responsibility and shouldered it impressively.

White was signed from Brighton last summer and has been putting in some fine performances under Arteta so far this season. Although he had a patchy start to his Arsenal career, he has blended well into the team and has established himself as a core starter in the north London club’s starting lineup. One wouldn’t expect anything different though, given that he was signed for £50 million.

KoloToure was a wonderful servant for the Ivorian national until he retired almost six years ago. He spent over a decade as a regular for Ivory Coast. KoloToureplayed 120 times for the Ivorian national team over a 15-year period.

Toure made his debut for the Ivorian senior national team against Rwanda in April 2000. The defenderwas in the Ivory Coast squad that reached the final at the 2006 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Egypt. He played in all the games on the run to second place at the tournament in Egypt.

KoloToure was part of the Ivory Coast squad that qualified for the World Cup tournament for the first time at the 2006 edition in Germany. He was part of the 23-man squad to Germany as named by manager Henri Michael. Toure made his World Cup debut during the 2-1 loss to two-time champions Argentina on June 11, 2006.

During hissenior international career,KoloToure scored seven goals. Two of his first three goals were headers against Guinea and Gabon. His third goal for his country was a 20-yard shot that flew into the top corner against Asian nation Japan.

KoloToure made his second appearance at a FIFA World Cup tournament in South Africa as part of the 23-man Ivory Coast squad. He was the captain for the first game against Portugal due to the injury to usual candidate Didier Drogba who started and finished the game on the bench.

Toureannounced his intention to call time on his career in the Ivorian senior national team in December 2014. The defender said he would retire at the end of the 2015 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament. He was part of the team that won the tournament by beating Ghana 9-8 on penalties in the final on February 8, 2015.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that he’s open to welcoming Yaya Toureto the club in a coaching capacity. According to him, Yaya Toure has his number from their time at the Etihad Stadium if he wants to join the Arsenal coaching staff. Arteta was the assistant manager to Pep Guardiola for over three years at Manchester City and during that time, Yaya was one of the best players in the team.Arteta met Yaya at Manchester City when he joined the club as an assistant manager in 2016 and the Spaniard was still in the same role when Yaya Toure left the Citizens in 2018.

Arteta talked about Yaya and the possibility of him joining the Arsenal coaching team in a chat withthe press during his penultimate media briefing ahead of the Everton game on Monday night as far as the Premier League is concerned.

Yaya is the younger brother of Arsenal legend KoloToure and he had an unsuccessful trial at Arsenal at the start of his football career in Europe. He went on to play for Greek club football giants Olympiakos, French club AS Monaco, Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona and Premier League heavyweights Manchester City on the back of his bid for a contact at Arsenal. On his part, KoloToure was signed from Ivorian club ASEC Mimosas by the Gunners and he made a seamless transition from being an attacker to a defender with guidance from legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. KoloToure was an important member of the Arsenal defence that went through the 2003/04 season without conceding a single goal. After leaving Arsenal, Kolo went on to play for Manchester City, Liverpool and Celtic.

Arteta has shown willingness to welcome former players to the club. He’s ready to welcome Yaya just like he did with Jack Wilshere who’s training with the Arsenal first team to keep fit while also working on his coaching badges.

KoloToure was at the heart of the Arsenal defence when the North Londoners beat Manchester United on penalties in the final to win the 2005 FA Cup title. KoloToure partnered Swiss defender Philippe Senderos in central defence as the more experienced Sol Campbell started the game on the bench. England international Campbell was an unused substitute at the end of the game which went into extra time and penalties.

Manchester United dominated possession for the most parts but they were unable to find a way past the Arsenal defence well marshalled by Ivorian player KoloToure. The Red Devils were the dominant team to the extent that Arsenal didn’t get their first shot on target until seven minutes into extra time after regulation time had ended in a goalless draw. Continue reading TOURE: 2005 FA CUP FINAL REVIEWED

KoloToure has been tipped for a great managerial career by Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira. The newly appointed Palace manager made this known in his pre-match presser ahead of the home clash with Leicester City in the Premier League just before the present international break.

Vieira spoke in glowing terms about ex-Arsenal teammate KoloToure who’s an important member of the coaching staff under manager Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City. Toure and Vieira played together for many years at Arsenal. They were both key members of the Gunners squad that won the 2003/04 Premier League title without a single defeat. Palace boss Vieira was the skipper for that Arsenal team having taken over the role from fellow club legend Tony Adams when Mr. Arsenal retired from football in 2002. Continue reading TOURE TIPPED FOR GREAT MANAGERIAL CAREER

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While every other big team in the English Premier League was busy splashing the cash on new signings this summer, Liverpool refused to join the shopping spree and it could have a negative impact on their season, according to their former player Kolo Toure.

Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Leicester City all splashed the cash this summer and spent heavily on the improvement of their squads but Liverpool, on the other hand, signed only one player in the window, France international defender Ibrahima Konate from German Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig and allowed two key players (Xerdan Shaqiri and Giorgio Wijnaldum) to leave the squad and join Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain respectively. Continue reading TOURE: LIVERPOOL WILL FIND IT HARD TO WIN THE LEAGUE

Retired Ivorian national team defender KoloToure signed for Liverpool in the summer of 2013. ThePremier League giants announced that they have reached an agreement to sign KoloToure in May 2013. The centre back signed for the Reds as a free agent after his Manchester City deal expired. Toure, 40, was unveiled as the first signing of the 2013summer transfer window on July 2, 2013 and was given the number 4 shirt. The Ivorian penned a two-year contract when he signed for the Reds.

KoloToure made his debut for Liverpool during the big friendly win over Preston North End as the Reds prepared for the 2013/14 campaign. He made his Premier League debut for the Reds in the home clash with Stoke City. Toure played his first game for Liverpool in the league during the 1-0 home win over the Potters on August 17, 2013.

Toure made a big error during the league game against West Bromas he gifted the Baggies an equaliser scored by Nigerian striker Victor Anichebe. Ten days later, he put the ball in his own net against Fulham but Liverpool still won the league game thanks to the late penalty from skipper Steven Gerrard.

KoloToure and his brother, Yaya Toure faced each other for the first time in a competitive game when the he came on as a late substitute for Liverpool against Manchester City whom Yaya started for. Toure scored his first goal for Liverpool during the 6-0 thrashing of bottom club Aston Villa in the league in February 2016. He powered a bullet header into the back of the net for his first Liverpool goal off the corner kick from Jordan Henderson.It was his first goal for KoloTouresince January 2011. He left Liverpool at the end of the 2015/16 season.

Former Liverpool star Kolo Toure has emptied a big barrel of praise on his compatriot, Manchester United star Amad Diallo. The Red Devils youngster has been a bargain signing for the English Premier League giants even though he has not been given enough time to showcase his talent. United signed the player from Italian Serie A outfit Atalanta last January and although he has not been utilized on the pitch by Olé Gunnar Solksjær as much as he would have, he has always performed well whenever he has been called upon.

Following his move from Italy to England, Diallo has changed his style of play and is now a more direct winger as he was more of a playmaker at Atalanta. Some weeks ago, he was called up to the Ivory Coast national team where he scored his first international goal for his country – a 9th-minute free-kick that helped the Ivorians seal a crucial victory over their rivals. Since then, Diallo has grown in confidence and even recently revealed that he is already looking forward to traveling with the Manchester United squad during their pre-season tour which will be starting in July.

Following his rise to success and the progress he has been making this far, former Ivory Coast international Kolo Toure has revealed that Amad is a gift to the country and that he is an exceptional player. According to Toure, the United star has proven that if he is under the right management, he could develop to become even much better in the future.

Solskjær has been tipped to send the attacker out on loan ahead of next season but it seems the Norwegian manager has some other plans for the Golden Boy Award nominee. He may well get more playing time next season.

Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey did his best KoloToure impression after the video of him wildly lunging to a tackle in training surfaced online. In the video posted on the Instagram account of Gunners skipper Pierre-EmerickAubameyang, Partey lunged into a tackle during Arsenal training and wiped out Arsenal coach Sam Wilson in the process.

Wilson is the strengthening and conditioning coach at Arsenal and Partey almost injured him via a tackle during a rondo training drill. The tackle from Partey evoked the memories of KoloToure and his first training session at Arsenal while he was on trial at the club.

KoloToure narrated to the official website of Arsenal in 2017 how he launched a big tackle on manager ArseneWenger while he was on trial. According to him, he thought the legendary Arsenal boss was also involved in the training session. KoloToure went on to say that the tackle on Wenger made him want to sign him as he saw his desire as a defender.

Arsenal signed Toure from ASEC Mimosas in his native Ivory Coast and he went on to play a big role for the club during the Invincibles season. He was a mainstay in defence as the Gunners went through the 2003/04 season without a single defeat on the way to winning the Premier League title.
No club has been able to replicate the unbeaten season achieved by Toure and Arsenal in the Premier League era.

Toure was also a key part of the defence that conceded just four goals on the way to the way to the 2006 Champions League final. He partnered Philippe Senderos at the heart of the Arsenal defence as the Gunners kept a record ten successive clean sheets before the defence was breached in the Champions League final which ended in a 2-1 win for Barcelona against 10-man Arsenal.