Yaya Touré, a former Manchester City midfielder, has been granted a full-time position in Tottenham’s academy. The three-time Premier League winner has been working on his Uefa A Licence with the club in an unofficial capacity since December.
This summer, Touré finished his coaching course with the Football Association of Wales and will coach his own age group.
The 39-year-old has not played professionally since a loan spell with Chinese club Qingdao Huanghai in 2019, but he did train briefly with League Two team Leyton Orient ahead of the 2020-21 season.
Touré spent a brief time with Queens Park Rangers in early 2021, working alongside Chris Ramsey. He also worked as a coach with Olimpik Donetsk of the Ukrainian Premier League and Akhmat Grozny of the Russian Premier League before returning to England at the end of last year.
The former Ivory Coast international, whose brother Kolo is Leicester’s first-team coach, began helping out at Tottenham’s academy with the under-18s. Jermain Defoe, who is expected to continue his coaching career at his previous club, might join him at Tottenham.
The move signals the next phase in Toure’s coaching career, after he took on a journeyman role in 2021.
As previously said, the 39-year-old spent four months as assistant manager of Ukrainian club Olimpik Donetsk before joining Russian club Akhmat Grozny as an assistant coach.
In recent years, Antonio Conte’s team has earned a reputation for nurturing talented young players, with Harry Kane serving as a shining example of what can happen when youth is given a chance.
Toure’s abundance of experience, technical talents, and tactical awareness could help shape the next generation of young footballers in north London.
Yaya Toure’s messages to Jurgen Klopp
Toure spent time with the Liverpool players during pre-season last summer and claimed that he is still attempting to sponge up some of the great German tactician’s wisdom.
“Klopp, when he wins games, I text him and he is delighted and he always invites me (to meet him) and texts me back,” Toure added: “Does this guy rest? I don’t think so, he loves football. He’s a top, top, guy.”
Along with Klopp, Mikel Arteta has offered to assist him in the early phases of his coaching career, albeit that offer may be questioned due to his position with Arsenal’s archrivals.
“He has my number because we’ve spent some years together at City,” he said earlier this year: “He is a player I appreciate a lot so he can call me and ask me the question.”
