YAYA TOURE PROFILE

Gnegneri Yaya Toure born 13 May 1983 in Sekoura Bouake, commonly known as Yaya Touré, is an Ivorian footballer who currently plays for Manchester City. He is a midfielder renowned for coupling physical power with great technique. Traditionally a defensive midfielder, he has been used more as an attacking midfielder by his coach Roberto Mancini at Manchester City. He was the first player from Côte d'Ivoire to play for FC Barcelona. He has 53 caps for Côte d'Ivoire, representing the team in their first appearance in a FIFA World Cup, in the 2006 competition as well as in 2010. He is the younger brother of his Côte d'Ivoire and Manchester City teammate Kolo Touré. He also has a younger brother named Ibrahim who currently plays for Smouha in Egypt.

Club career
Early career

Touré joined ASEC Mimosas youth academy in 1996 on the recommendation of his long-time mentor Patrick van Reijendam. He then moved to Europe where he played for Belgian side Beveren for two-and-a-half years and later for one and a half years at Ukrainian side Metalurh Donetsk.

Olympiacos
Touré then moved to Olympiacos in 2005. He was nicknamed "the new Patrick Vieira" by his older brother. Before joining Olympiacos, Touré had a trial with Arsenal, starting in a match against Barnet, but subsequently manager Arsène Wenger failed to sign him because he could not secure a work permit.

Monaco
After representing Côte d'Ivoire in the 2006 World Cup, Touré was signed by French Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in August 2006.[4] He played at the Stade Louis II for one season before leaving for FC Barcelona.

FC Barcelona
Yaya Touré (fourth from right) with Barcelona in the 2008-09 season

Touré joined Spanish side Barcelona for €9 million and made his official debut for the club on 26 August 2007 during the league opener against Racing de Santander.

In the 2007 Joan Gamper Trophy match against Internazionale of Italy, Touré scored his first goal for Barcelona in a 5–0 victory. He scored his first official goal with Barcelona in a La Liga match against Athletic Club on 2 September 2007. His first goal in the Champions League for Barça was against Schalke in the 2007–08 quarter-finals. The goal proved to decide the tie and Barcelona advanced into a semi-final match-up against Manchester United, which they subsequently lost 1–0 over two legs.

During the early stages of the 2008–09 season, newly appointed manager Josep Guardiola favoured Sergio Busquets in the defensive role of Barcelona's midfield trio. In the 2009 Champions League Final, he played centre back due to injuries and suspensions of first-choice defenders, despite having only played there twice before for Barcelona. In late June 2010 Barcelona confirmed that Touré was allowed to leave the club in the summer.

Manchester City
Touré's agent Dimitri Seluk announced that Manchester City had agreed a fee believed to be around £24 million with Barcelona it has been said he is earning £220,000 a week and Toure is one of the highest-paid Premier League players because of his pedigree as a Champions League and La Liga winner in the 2009–10 season.The deal was finalised with Manchester City on 2 July, the club later announced he signed a 5 year deal. Touré joined his elder brother Kolo at Manchester City, Kolo having signed for the club in July 2009. He was allocated squad number 42, which is the reverse of the number 24 jersey he sported at Barcelona, since Patrick Vieira had previously been allocated that number.

On 28 July, Touré made his debut for City in a pre-season friendly against Club América which City won 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw with the Mexican side. In his home debut on 7 August, in another friendly match against Valencia CF, he was named man of the match. On 14 August 2010, Touré made his Premier League debut in a 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. A week later, Touré impressed in the 3-0 defeat of Liverpool at Eastlands, forming a part of a three man midfield with Gareth Barry and Nigel de Jong. On 19 September 2010, Touré scored his first goal against Wigan Athletic. The goal was scored in the 70th minute and Toure was assisted by Carlos Tevez who scored in that match too. Recently, Toure has been seen to have taken up a more attacking position under Manager Roberto Mancini and has revelled so far, setting up Carlos Tevez against Bolton. He scored a brilliant left footed drive against West Ham United and soon scored a second, but was later credited as an own goal as the ball rebounded off the post into Robert Green's back and bounced in.He scored his third goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a delightful counter-attack move, with Yaya making up 90 yards to latch onto the ball and fire if past the goalkeeper, with Manchester City eventually winning 4-3.Yaya's fifth goal for Manchester City came on the 25th February in an Europa League game against Aris Thessaloniki F.C., the goal was a deflected strike to make the score 3-0 to Manchester City.

Personal information
Full name: Gnégnéri Yaya Touré
Date of birth: 13 May 1983 (1983-05-13)
Place of birth: Sekoura Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire
Height: 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position: Defensive midfielder

Club information
Current club: Manchester City
Number: 42

Youth career
1996–2001 Mimosas

Senior career*
2001–2003 Beveren 70 (3)
2003–2005 Metalurh Donetsk 33 (3)
2005–2006 Olympiacos 19 (3)
2006–2007 Monaco 27 (5)
2007–2010 Barcelona 74 (4)
2010– Manchester City 22 (4)

National team‡
2004– Côte d'Ivoire 53 (6)