Yaya Touré

Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder.

He is currently an assistant coach for the Saudi Arabia national team.

He joined the ASEC Mimosas youth academy in 1996 on the recommendation of his long-time mentor Patrick van Reijendam.

A prominent figure in the ASEC academy was Jean-Marc Guillou.

In 2001, Guillou invested heavily in a Belgian club, Beveren, with the aim of using the team to showcase Ivorian players in a European league.

Touré moved to Beveren in 2001, one of many ASEC players to do so in this period.

By 2003, he was one of 14 Ivorians in the Beveren squad.

In the summer of 2003, Touré had a trial with Arsenal.

He started a pre-season friendly against Barnet on 19 July which finished a 0–0 draw.

The BBC Sport website said that Touré "blotted his copy book by missing Arsenal's clearest chance of the game, heading a cross from Quincy Owusu-Abeyie wide."

Wenger was still keen to sign the then 20-year-old but Touré had difficulties in receiving a work permit.

Ultimately, Touré grew impatient and opted to sign for Ukrainian club Metalurh Donetsk in December 2003, where he spent one-and-a-half years.

Touré earned 100 caps for the Ivory Coast from 2004 to 2015, representing the nation at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Touré joined Olympiacos in 2005.

He was described as "the new Patrick Vieira" by his older brother.

Olympiacos won the double that season, and Touré was one of their key players.

His performances in Greece were impressive and attracted interest from many clubs.

He also represented them in six Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015, helping them finish runner-up in 2006 and 2012, while captaining them to victory in 2015.

He is the younger brother of fellow former footballer Kolo Touré, who was his teammate at Manchester City and for the national team.

Touré was born in Bouaké.

Touré signed for French Ligue 1 club Monaco in August 2006.

However, he had a difficult relationship with the incumbent manager, László Bölöni, with Touré claiming Bölöni refused to play him in his preferred midfield position.

Bölöni was soon sacked with Monaco languishing in the second-last position in the league table.

Laurent Banide replaced Bölöni and Touré subsequently became an influential player in the second half of the season, scoring five times to help haul the club out of relegation difficulties.

He had stints with Beveren, Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos and Monaco before moving to Barcelona in 2007.

He had established himself as a key midfielder, and with interest from around Europe he decided to join Barcelona in the summer of 2007.

Touré joined Spanish La Liga club Barcelona for €10 million (£6.7 million) and made his official debut for the club on 26 August 2007 during the 2007–08 La Liga season opener against Racing de Santander.

He scored his first goal in a La Liga match against Athletic Bilbao on 2 September 2007, which Barcelona won 3–1.

His first UEFA Champions League match for Barcelona was against Schalke 04 in the 2007–08 quarter-final, securing a 2–0 aggregate victory and a berth in the semi-final.

During the early stages of the 2008–09 season, newly appointed manager Pep Guardiola favoured Sergio Busquets in the defensive role of Barcelona's midfield trio.

Touré aspired to be a striker during his youth and has played centre-back, including for Barcelona in the 2009 UEFA Champions League final.

However, he spent the majority of his career as a box-to-box midfielder for club and country, where he has been regarded as one of the world's best players in his position.

He played over 100 matches for the club and was part of the historic Barcelona team that won six trophies in a calendar year, in 2009.

In the 2009 Champions League final, Touré played at centre-back due to injuries and suspensions of first-choice defenders, despite having only played there twice before for Barcelona.

In 2010, Touré moved to Premier League club Manchester City, where he scored a number of key goals, most notably the only goals in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final and final.

He also helped City earn their first league title in 44 years.

In late June 2010, Barcelona confirmed that Touré would be allowed to leave the club in the summer.

One of the greatest African players of all time, Touré was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Touré began his playing career at Ivorian club ASEC Mimosas, where he made his debut at age 18.

His performances attracted attention from Europe.