Yaya Touré
Central Midfielder · Manchester City · Ivory Coast
About Yaya Touré
Yaya Touré is the finest African midfielder in football history — a four-time African Player of the Year (2011-2014) and the driving force behind Manchester City's transformation from also-rans to serial Premier League champions. His combination of physical power, technical quality, and goalscoring ability from midfield was unique: at 191cm, he scored 20+ league goals in consecutive seasons for City. He also won the Champions League with Barcelona (ESP) in 2009.
Yaya Touré's story
Bouaké's Giant
Touré was born in Bouaké, Ivory Coast's second city, and began his career at ASEC Mimosas before moving through Belgian, Ukrainian, and French clubs. His combination of physical size, technical quality, and goalscoring from midfield attracted Barcelona (ESP), who signed him in 2007. He helped them win the Champions League, La Liga, and Copa del Rey before City signed him for €30m.
City's Engine
Yaya Touré's six years at Manchester City (2010-2016) are the foundation of the club's modern identity. He won three Premier League titles, scored the winning goal in the 2011 FA Cup final, and consistently drove from midfield — scoring 79 league goals in 230 league games, an extraordinary return for a central midfielder. In 2013-14, he scored 24 league goals — the most by a midfielder in a single Premier League season.
Four African Awards
Touré won four consecutive African Player of the Year awards (2011-2014) — matching the all-time record and reflecting consistent excellence across the continent's most celebrated individual honour. He was the face of Ivorian football during the "golden generation" years when Côte d'Ivoire had some of the finest players on the continent.
Did you know?
- ⚽ He scored 24 Premier League goals in 2013-14 — the most by a central midfielder in a single Premier League season — a record that combined power, long-range shooting, and penalty-area presence.
- 🥇 He won four consecutive African Player of the Year awards (2011-2014) — jointly holding the all-time record — recognising one of the finest stretches of individual African football in the award's history.
- 👨👩👧👦 Married Gineba; they have children. He settled between Manchester and the Ivory Coast and became an advocate for African player development.
- 🌟 Pep Guardiola, who managed him at Barcelona, said: "Yaya Touré at his best was one of the most complete central midfielders in the history of football. I have never seen anyone combine physical power with technical quality in that way."
- 🏆 He won the Champions League with Barcelona (2009), then three Premier League titles with City (2012,2014,2016) — a trophy haul across two of football's dominant club sides of the era.
- 🎂 He famously requested birthday cake from Manchester City as part of a contract dispute — an unusual demand that created one of football's most bemusing public controversies in 2014.
- 📊 He scored 79 Premier League goals for Manchester City — the highest total by a central midfielder at any single club in the league's history, across a combination of driving runs and long-range strikes.
- 🇨🇮 He captained Ivory Coast to their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations title — the country's second — completing the international honour his generation's talent deserved after years of near-misses.
- 🤝 His partnership with David Silva at City — Touré driving through the middle, Silva threading the passes — is considered the most physically contrasting but complementary midfield combination in Premier League history.
Honours
- UEFA Champions League: Barcelona (2009)
- Premier League x3: Manchester City (2012, 2014, 2016)
- Africa Cup of Nations: Ivory Coast (2015)
- African Player of the Year x4: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 — joint continental record
- PFA Premier League Team of the Year x4: Four consecutive selections
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