Yaya Toure is remembered as a tall, strong, powerful and versatile player who could play in all positions in the midfield. He was a key player for both Barcelona and Manchester City.

Born in Bouake, the second largest city in the Ivory Coast, he started training as a youth at Mimosa in 1996. He then moved to Belgian club Le Havre, where he began his career. He played as a striker early in his career and also played as a central defender. He even played as a central defender in the 2009 Champions League final.

From Beveren, he moved to Ukrainian club Metalist Donets. He did not play much. He only played for two seasons, making just over 30 appearances. He then moved to Greek club Olympiacos, where he also made just 20 appearances.

From there, he moved to Monaco in 2006, scoring 5 goals in 27 appearances. In 2007, he joined Barcelona. At that time, Barcelona were coached by Frank Rijkaard. He was a great player under Rijkaard. Unfortunately, Rijkaard was eliminated in the 2007–08 Champions League semi-finals and was replaced by Guardiola the following season.

Yaya Toure did not play much under Guardiola. He did not play at all for three seasons before leaving in 2010. He made only 74 appearances under Rijkaard. He also had injury problems. But the main thing was that Guardiola's team even sent Mascherano to the back and Busquets, who had started as a central defender, came to play in the centre of the midfield, Xavi, The combination of Iniesta and Tiki Taka made Yaya Toure a no-go.

He joined Manchester City from Barcelona in 2010. The current owners, Abu Dhabi Group, bought the club from Thaksin Shinawatra. The team was in the process of being rebuilt. The manager was Mancini. The next season, 2011-12, they won their first Premier League title. It was the first generation of the team that made Manchester City what they are today. No one can deny that Yaya Toure played a big role in that. Yaya Toure was at his best when he won with Roberto Mancini.

Yaya Toure was a key player for the team under Mancini, and under Brian Kitts after Mancini left, and then under Pellegrini. He missed games due to injuries, but when he was healthy, no one could challenge him. He won the Premier League title in 2011-12, the Premier League title in 2013-14 and the FA Cup in his first season.

Unfortunately, Pellegrini left and Guardiola arrived in the 2016-17 season from Bayern Munich. He won the Premier League title under Guardiola in 2017-18, but he was sold after that season. The story between him and Guardiola is one thing. He has accused him of racism, but in a big place like Europe, that is not possible. There are many other things that could have been involved. It is difficult to judge because we do not know some of the things that happen in the dressing room. Before I talk about that, I also need to talk about Yaya Toure's style of play.

He has played both as a central defender and as a striker, but in fact he is best in midfield. He can play in all three positions. He does not play as a true central defender, but he is a central midfielder, In addition to the 𝐁𝐨𝐱-𝐭𝐨-𝐁𝐨𝐱 player, he can also play as a number 10. Although he hasn't played much as a number 10, those who have followed him will know what he can do at the top of the 14th zone.

He is good at stopping opponents' attacks and then winning the ball back, and he can also carry the ball and score goals himself. He may seem slow when he runs, but once he gets going, it's not easy to stop him. He is also very big and strong. His technique is also very good. He played as a hybrid player from the beginning, who can stop opponents' balls, win the ball, come up with the ball and threaten again.

If we talk about Guardiola, that's probably the problem. Guardiola only played Messi in his team. The rest of the players play in a coordinated way within his system. Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta play in the same way. Yaya Toure, for him, is seen by Guardiola as holding the ball too much and not fitting into his style of play. However, it is undeniable that Yaya Toure was one of the early builders of the team in Abu Dhabi and was one of the first to lay the foundations for City's modern success.
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