Manchester City has bid farewell to arguably one of their most influential midfielders in their history as a football club.
The Ivory Coast international has made 16 appearances in all competitions for Pep’s side this season. His final appearance was against Brighton this past Wednesday. His last two seasons saw him fade heavily out of the side – becoming a bit-by-bit player.
It was a bit harsh in how he was slowly got vanished from the starting lineup and then was barely thought of as a replacement when City was in a jam, or just need fresh legs. But as the saying goes – it happens to the best of them.
The journey for the African powerhouse
Yaya Toure signed from Barcelona for a fee of £24 million in 2010, and signed a one-year contract extension in 2017. Since then Toure has brought such compatibility, and stability in midfield. In his first season with the citizens, Toure scored the winning goal to give City the FA cup title for the first time in 34 years. He also went on to help secure City a Champions League qualification for the first time in football history.
The success continued, Yaya also registered 20 goals in 35 Premier League games – this new attacking midfield role was looking good for him. During his departure to the African Cup, City struggled and recorded one win in six games. This underlined his vital role that he established at City.
December 2012 saw another African Player of the year nomination after a crucial 2-0 win against Bayern in the Champions League. This led him to his first title as African Player of the year. Yaya Toure went on to gain a third consecutive nomination for UEFA team of the year and was also crowned African Player of the year for the second consecutive time in December in 2012.
There was a surprise guest at Yaya Toure's Man City farewell party tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/fIeuYS4lg8
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) May 9, 2018
A 100 marks the spot
Yaya marked his 100th appearance for the club with a free-kick goal and secured City a title for the second time. This also led to more freedom in his attacking role. Yaya became just the second midfielder to reach 20 goals in an individual Premier League season and one of six on the PFA Player of the Year shortlist. 2015 saw a Capital One Cup title for the Citizens – once again Toure netted the decisive penalty against Liverpool to achieve glory.
Yaya Toure will leave Manchester City after winning four African Player of the year awards, an FA cup title, Capital One title, one super cup title, and three English Champion titles.
A painful goodbye for Yaya Touré pic.twitter.com/36YPX0H0Qr
— Paul Hirst (@hirstclass) May 9, 2018
Pep talking about Yaya and his farewell:
"“Yaya came here at the start of the journey.“Where we are now is because of what he has done.“The Brighton game we will give him what he deserves, one of the most beautiful farewells a player can receive.”"
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It’s sad to see Yaya’s reigns coming to an end, especially because of his relationship with manager Pep Guardiola. I really believe he deserved better this season in terms of play time.
Even at his age he still posses the skills and vision to keep up with the pace of play, he strong on the ball and holds a deadly shot. He has claimed to want to stay in the Premier League after this season but there have been no clear hints as to where yet.