Former Manchester City and FC Barcelona Midfielder, Yaya Toure has retired from fottball at the age of 35.
The Ivorian’s agent, Dimitri Seluk who disclosed this recently, said the star player has decided to explore the world of coaching and management
The final outings of Yaya’s distinguished career came during a second spell at Greek giants Olympiakos, but the Ivorian is best known for his exploits at Camp Nou and the Etihad where he won fantastic title and internationally and domestically. He spent three years with Barca, winning the La-Liga title and Champions League.
He moved to City in 2010 and helped them to three Premier League crowns, two League Cup successes and an FA Cup win – with his goal in the 2011 final getting the club back on the trophy trail.
Toure left England at the end of the 2017-18 campaign, but a man who earned 101 caps for his country is now walking away from competitive football for good.
Speaking recently on Toure’s retirement and compelling career, his agent said: “I say this for the first time: Yaya decided to end his career as a champion. The farewell match, when he won the Premier League title with Manchester City was, in principle, the real end of his playing career, not only in this team, but in general.”
“Yaya is one of the best players in Africa and he had one of the brightest careers in the history of African football. Therefore, he should also leave football beautifully, at the peak. We talked for a long time on this topic’’, Seluk added.
“Of course, every football player wants to play for as long as possible. In terms of his physical condition, Yaya could do this at a sufficiently high level for another five years.
“But we came to the conclusion that he, the football player who played for Barcelona and Manchester City, could not lower the bar. We see many players who continue their careers at a mature age, and this is commendable. But Yaya and I chose a different path – to leave as a champion and start a new stage in life with a career as a coach. In this, I am sure, Yaya will reach even greater heights that those he achieved as a football player. There are no African coaches in the English Premier League’’, the agent further said.
Samson Oyedeyi
