Former star midfielder Yaya Toure was part of the team which helped Man City win their first League title in 44 years, and in May 2014 scored his 20th Premier League goal of the season in a 4-0 win over Aston Villa, becoming just the second midfielder after Frank Lampard to achieve 20 goals in a top-flight season. Manchester City icon Yaya Toure initially joined Ukrainian Premier League side Olimpik Donetsk as assistant manager before leaving the role shortly following a short-lived, four-month spell. The three-time Premier League winner has also worked informally with Tottenham academy coaches, with plenty of speculation that the former Manchester City midfielder is set to take up a full-time coaching position. Yaya Toure has also cemented himself as a City icon during his eight years with the club, having joined from Barcelona in 2010.
Toure has served the Ivory Coast in six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments: 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015, being runners-up in 2006 and 2012 and champions in 2015. Toure was nominated to the CAF championship team in 2008, 2012, and 2015. Toure scored the first goal in the Ivory Coast’s 3-1 semi-final triumph over DR Congo on February 4 2015, qualifying les Éléphants for their third Africa Cup of Nations Finals in nine years. On February 8, Toure led the Ivory Coast to the first-ever AFCON victory since 1992, defeating Ghana in a penalty shootout at the Estadio de Bata in Equatorial Guinea.
Yaya Toure was also instrumental in City’s two Premier League victories, 2012 and 2014, scoring a brace in the second-to-last match against Newcastle to ensure the vital 2-0 victory, then scoring a staggering 24 goals in 2014. Yaya Toure then helped Man City win the Premier League for the first time ever in 2011/12, going on to win the league twice more before leaving in 2018. Toure scored a brace on May 6, as Manchester City won the Premier League against Newcastle United 2-0, moving them 3 points clear of Manchester United with just one game remaining to play in the 2011-12 season.
On December 21 2011, in a 3-0 home victory against Stoke City, Toure set new Premier League records for passes attempted (168) and completed (157) in a match. Yaya Toure’s performances kept Manchester City in a close race for the title against Liverpool’s prolific sides. The Reds appeared to be riding a wave of momentum to their first Premier League title since their drought-breaking campaign. Pep Guardiola’s first season saw Barcelona achieve the historic Champions League, La Liga and Copa Del Rey triple, Yaya Toure being an essential part of Barcelona’s success. However, the arrival of Sergio Busquets was an upstart for the central midfield role. Former star midfielder Yaya Toure left Manchester City at the end of the 2017-18 season, having managed to make 230 appearances and score 59 goals.
