Yaya Touré: the midfielder who ended Manchester City's wait

Yaya Touré was a midfielder who even played at centre-back in a Champions League final. He won that Champions League with Barcelona, three Premier League titles with Manchester City, and the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015 as captain of Ivory Coast.

His peak came in the 2013–14 season, when he scored 20 league goals from midfield.

The numbers

The curve has a clear shape. For his first eight years he scored occasionally. At Manchester City the goals came in numbers he had never reached, with a single enormous peak in 2013–14, and then they tapered from 2015–16.

From Bouaké to Barcelona

Touré was born in Bouaké and joined the youth academy of ASEC Mimosas in 1996 on the recommendation of his mentor Patrick van Reijendam, with Jean-Marc Guillou a prominent figure at the academy. In 2001 he moved to the Belgian club Beveren, one of many ASEC players to do so, and by 2003 he was one of 14 Ivorians in the squad.

In summer 2003 he had a trial with Arsenal and started a pre-season friendly against Barnet, a 0–0 draw on 19 July. Arsène Wenger was keen to sign him, but he could not get a work permit, and in December 2003 he signed for Metalurh Donetsk in Ukraine, where he stayed for a year and a half. He won the Greek league and cup with Olympiacos in 2005–06, then played a season at Monaco.

Barcelona paid €10 million for him in 2007. He made his debut on 26 August 2007 in the La Liga opener against Racing Santander and scored his first league goal on 2 September in a 3–1 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Rome, 27 May 2009

In 2008–09 Barcelona's new coach Pep Guardiola favoured Sergio Busquets in the defensive role of the midfield. In the Champions League final against Manchester United, a 2–0 win, injuries and suspensions to the first-choice defenders meant that Touré played at centre-back, a position he had played only twice before. In late June 2010 Barcelona confirmed that he would be allowed to leave.

Manchester City

On 2 July 2010 Touré signed a five-year contract with Manchester City for around £24 million. He made his Premier League debut on 14 August 2010 in a 0–0 draw at Tottenham.

On 16 April 2011 he scored the only goal of the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United and was man of the match. On 14 May he scored the only goal of the final, a 1–0 win over Stoke City at Wembley, which ended the club's 35-year wait for a major trophy.

13 May 2012

In April 2012 he was dominant in the derby that Vincent Kompany won with a header before half-time. On 6 May he scored twice in a 2–0 win at Newcastle that put City three points above United with a match to play. On the last day, against Queens Park Rangers, City won 3–2. Touré played the first half before leaving with an injury and set up Pablo Zabaleta's opening goal in the 39th minute. It secured the club's first league title in 44 years.

The trophies

2013–14: a midfielder with 20 goals

On 2 March 2014 he scored City's equaliser in the League Cup final against Sunderland, who lost 3–1. On 7 May 2014 he scored his 20th league goal of the season in a 4–0 win over Aston Villa, which made him only the second midfielder to reach that number in a Premier League season, after Frank Lampard. City won their second Premier League title in three years.

He also completed more passes than any other player that season, 1,169, at 90.76% accuracy. He was named African Footballer of the Year for the fourth year in a row, a run that began in 2011, when he won it after twelve straight awards had gone to forwards.

A difficult last years

On 5 November 2014 Touré scored an equaliser against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League at home and was sent off for shoving Roman Eremenko. On 1 March 2015 he started against Liverpool, with his brother Kolo coming on as a substitute, the first time the two had met in a competitive match.

In 2016 Guardiola left him out of the Champions League squad. His agent, Dimitri Seluk, said Guardiola had humiliated him, and Guardiola replied that Touré would not play again until he apologised. On 16 November 2016 he returned to start against Crystal Palace and scored twice in a 2–1 win. His departure was announced on 4 May 2018, and his last appearance was a 3–1 win over Brighton on 9 May, in a season that ended with another title.

He re-signed for Olympiacos on 2 September 2018 and left by mutual agreement in December. He joined Qingdao Huanghai in China on 3 July 2019, and left on 1 January 2020.

Ivory Coast

He was a regular from his debut in 2004. In 2006 he played all three of the World Cup group games for Ivory Coast, and ended up as a runner-up in the Africa Cup of Nations. In 2008 he was named in the tournament Best XI and in 2012, when Ivory Coast again lost the final, in the Team of the Tournament.

At the 2010 World Cup he scored the opening goal in the 3–0 win over North Korea. After Didier Drogba retired from international football in 2014, he was named captain, and he led the team in the opener of the World Cup in Brazil, a 2–1 win over Japan.

8 February 2015

In the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations he scored the opening goal in the 3–1 semi-final win over DR Congo. In the final, on 8 February, Ivory Coast beat Ghana on penalties, and won their first title since 1992 with Touré as captain.

He announced his retirement from international football on 20 September 2016. He returned to the squad in March 2018, but did not play again for the national team.

Records and recognition

Why he is remembered

His goal at Wembley in 2011 ended a 35-year wait for a trophy at Manchester City, and he was in the team that won the league after 44 years. With Ivory Coast he won the title that Drogba's generation had twice lost in finals.