Коло Туре: Аңыз футболшының өмірі мен мансабы

Ivorian footballer (born 1981)

Kolo Abib Touré (born 19 March 1981) is an Ivorian professional football manager and former player. He most recently managed Championship side Wigan Athletic. Beginning his career as a defender with ASEC Mimosas, Touré moved to English team Arsenal in 2002, where he made 326 appearances for the club and was a member of the 03–04 'invincibles' side. In 2009, he moved to Manchester City, where he was joined a year later by his younger brother, Yaya Touré, helping City earn their first league title in 44 years. In 2013, Touré signed for Liverpool. He is one of the eight players who have won the Premier League with two clubs, having won it with Arsenal and City. He also won the Scottish Premiership and Scottish League Cup with Celtic. He remains to date the African player with the most Premier League appearances (353 in total). Touré is the second most capped player for the Ivory Coast, with 120 appearances from 2000 to 2015. He represented the team at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup tournaments. Touré also represented the Ivory Coast at seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments between 2002 and 2015, helping them finish runner up in 2006 and 2012, while winning in 2015.

After much transfer speculation, it was announced on 28 July 2009 that Manchester City had agreed a fee of £14 million for Touré. After he successfully passed a medical in Manchester on 29 July 2009, Touré signed a four year contract with the club which had the option of extending it to five years. City, who had finished 10th the previous season, had made a number of high profile signings in preparation for the 2009–10 season, and Touré hoped to help make City a top four team. He was appointed the club captain by Mark Hughes. He scored his first goal for Manchester City in a 2–1 League Cup win over Fulham on 23 September 2009. He scored his first league goal for City against Burnley on 7 November 2009. Manchester City finished the season in fifth position, losing out to Tottenham Hotspur by just three points. On 2 July 2010, Kolo Touré was joined by his brother Yaya at Manchester City following a transfer believed to be worth around £24 million. At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, Roberto Mancini took away the captain's armband from Touré and gave it to Carlos Tevez. However, he remained part of Mancini's plans and was a first team regular in defence. He was sent off in Manchester City's 2–1 defeat to Everton on 20 December 2010, helping to deny City the chance to top the Premier League table on Christmas. On 15 January 2011, Touré scored the first goal in a 4–3 win for the Citizens against Wolves which sent them to the top of the league table. On 3 March 2011, it was revealed that Touré had failed a drug test and had been suspended. The World Anti Doping Agency imposed a 6 month suspension from football effective 2 March 2011. In the 2011–12 season, Touré was used as a squad player, making 14 league appearances as Manchester City won a league title for the first time in 44 years.

On 28 May 2013, Liverpool announced that an agreement had been reached in principle to sign Touré on a free transfer from Manchester City. On 2 July he was unveiled as Liverpool's first signing of the window and was handed the number 4 shirt. He signed a two year contract. On 13 July 2013, he made his debut for Liverpool in a 4–0 win in a preseason friendly over Preston North End. He made his Premier League debut for Liverpool on 17 August 2013 in a 1–0 victory over Stoke City at Anfield. On 2 February 2014, in a match against West Bromwich Albion he made a costly mistake, passing the ball straight to Victor Anichebe, who scored an equaliser. On 12 February 2014, he scored an own goal in a match against Fulham, which eventually Liverpool won thanks to a late penalty from skipper Steven Gerrard. On 1 March 2015, he came on as an 83rd minute substitute against Manchester City, marking the first time he and his brother Yaya, who started the match for City, faced each other in a competitive match. Touré scored his first Liverpool goal on 14 February 2016, heading in Jordan Henderson's corner kick to confirm a 6–0 win away to bottom side Aston Villa. It was his first goal in any match since January 2011, and he celebrated wildly. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Touré was released.

On 24 July 2016, Touré reunited with former manager Brendan Rodgers when he joined Celtic on a one year contract. He made his debut on 3 August 2016, coming on as a substitute in the second half of Celtic's 2–1 win over FC Astana in a Champions League qualifier. He made 20 appearances as Celtic completed an unbeaten domestic season, winning a treble of League, Cup and League Cup. Touré was not offered a new playing contract at the end of the season.

Touré made his debut for Ivory Coast in April 2000 against Rwanda. He played in all five games for the Ivory Coast as they finished runners up to the hosts in the African Cup of Nations in Egypt in January 2006. He was named in the 23 man squad taken by coach Henri Michel to the 2006 FIFA World Cup and made his first appearance in a FIFA World Cup on 11 June 2006 in the Ivory Coast's 2–1 loss to Argentina. He has scored three goals for the Ivory Coast to date, two of them headers against Guinea and Gabon one against Japan, a 20 yard shot from outside the penalty area that flew into the top corner of the goal. Touré was named for the Ivory Coast for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was the captain in the team's first game vs. Portugal due to Didier Drogba's injury, which kept him benched. In December 2014, Touré announced his intention to retire from international football after the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. On 15 February 2015, he confirmed his retirement from international duty.

On 9 August 2017, the Ivorian Football Federation appointed Touré as a new member of their coaching staff for the African Nations Championship and under 23 team. He joined Celtic's coaching staff as a technical assistant in September 2017. In February 2019, Brendan Rodgers left Celtic for Leicester City, and Touré also joined Leicester as a first team coach.

On 29 November 2022, Wigan Athletic appointed Touré as first team manager on a three and a half year deal. On 2 January 2023, Touré's team lost their third consecutive game by the scoreline of 4–1, and dropped to last place in the Championship as a result. Toure was sacked by Wigan on 26 January 2023, with the club bottom of the Championship and failing to win any of his nine games in charge.

He is the older brother of Ibrahim Touré and Yaya Touré. Ibrahim died of cancer in 2014, aged 28. They also have a sister, Belinda. Touré is a Muslim and observes fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan, stating that "It doesn't affect me physically. It makes me stronger. You can do it when you believe so strongly in something. A normal human can be without water for much longer than one day." Touré is married to Awo. As of 2011, they had a son and a daughter. His son, Yassine, is also pursuing a football career, having signed a two year scholarship with Leicester City in December 2021.