Players - Kolo Touré

Kolo Touré
Birthdate: 19 March 1981
Birthplace: Bouaké, Ivory Coast
Other clubs: ASEC Mimosas (1994-2002), Arsenal (2002-09), Manchester City (2009-13), Celtic (2016-17)
Signed from: Free Transfer
Signed for LFC: 02.07.2013
International debut: 02.07.2000 vs. Niger
International caps: 108/6 - 24.06.2014
Liverpool debut: 17.08.2013
Last appearance: 18.05.2016
Debut goal: 14.02.2016
Last goal: 14.02.2016
Contract expiry: 01.07.2016
Win ratio: 54.93% W:39 D:17 L:15
League games / goals / assists: 46 / 1 / 2
Total games / goals / assists: 71 / 1 / 2

Player Profile

The retirement of Jamie Carragher, the return of Danny Wilson to a Scottish club, the injury problems that had seen Daniel Agger appear in only one hundred and fifty-five Premier League matches since his arrival in early 2006 out of a maximum of two hundred and eighty-three by the end of the 2012/13 season, a serious injury to Martin Kelly, the indifferent form of Martin Skrtel, the general perception that neither Sebastian Coates nor Andre Wisdom were quite ready to play in a number of consecutive first-team matches: probably a mixture of all these factors forced Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers to act immediately once the final match of the 2012/13 season had taken place.

Rodgers did not need to look far. Just over thirty miles east in fact. To Manchester, where Kolo Touré’s four-year contract with Manchester City was about to come to an end, a successful spell that had seen him collect winners’ medals in both the Premier League and the FA Cup, having also achieved that with his previous club, Arsenal, where he had been a member of the Gunners’ “Invincibles” squad of 2003/04 and an FA Cup winner either side of that unbeaten League season, although he was actually only an unused substitute in the final against Southampton in 2003. The Ivorian passed his thirty-second birthday shortly before the end of his final season in Manchester. An accomplished defender at both club and international level (and with considerable experience gallivanting as a car salesman) Touré seemed to be an ideal addition to Liverpool’s squad because he already had eleven years experience of the Premier League behind him. 

After a few barren years in the 1990s, Arsenal had got used to winning prizes again by the time Touré arrived in England in February, 2002. He settled quickly into English life and averaged thirty Premier League matches a season during his seven years in north London. Following his transfer to Manchester City, he became more of a squad-player than a regular in the team and this meant that he only appeared in fourteen League matches as City won the English championship in 2012 for the first time in forty-four years. Touré first played for his country, the Ivory Coast, in the year 2000, appeared in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups in Germany and South Africa and has also been a stand-out player in the Africa Cup of Nations, a competition in which he has suffered huge disappointments after his country lost two finals on penalties, in 2006 to Egypt and in 2012 to Zambia.

This was not a long-term solution to Liverpool’s central defensive problems, but the signing of a free agent who has already played in over three hundred English Premier League matches. On the face of it, it looked to be a very shrewd piece of business indeed, the acquisition of a man who was vastly experienced and hungry for more success before his playing days come to an end. Touré appeared in just over half the Premier League matches in 2013/14 and he was also selected to play in two of the five domestic cup-ties. Mostly his vast experience was an asset but an unfortunate and uncharacteristic error at West Bromwich in February cost his team two valuable points. He only started two matches after that and had to be content with a place on the substitutes' bench for the final half-dozen matches of the season. Touré played only in the Ivory Coast's final group match in the World Cup finals in Brazil: a 2-1 defeat by Greece in Fortaleza. The last-minute penalty winner by Georgios Samaras meant that the Greeks went through to the knock-out stage of the tournament but the Africans were eliminated. Liverpool had agreed to sell Touré to Trabzonspor in Turkey in the summer of 2014, but he opted to stay at Liverpool and fight for his place.

The Ivorian defender made made 21 appearances for Liverpool in 2014/15 but was only in the starting team thirteen times. He was expected to leave in the summer of 2015 to get more game time elsewhere but he accepted the club's offer of a one year contract extension, knowing that his experience was needed following the departure of captain Steven Gerrard. He made 26 appearances in all competitions, more than either of the previous two. With Martin Skrtel often out of form or suffering from injury, his presence was crucial in the run to the Europa League final, especially after Mamadou Sakho was banned for failing a drugs test. He got his first Reds goal in a 6-0 win at Aston Villa on 14th February but despite appearing in the Europa League final and expressing a desire to stay, he was released at the end of his contract. On 24 July 2016 Kolo was reunited with former manager Brendan Rodgers, signing for Celtic on a one-year deal. He made seventeen appearances in a season Celtic were unbeaten domestically as they won a treble. He then retired from playing and joined the background staff as a technical assistant, working across all age levels at the club, before moving on to Leicester City as a coach in 2019, following Rodgers to the club. In November 2022 Toure left Leicester to take up his first managerial position at struggling Championship side Wigan Athletic. 
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 46 5 9 11 0 71
2013-2014 20 2 2 0 0 24
2014-2015 12 3 3 3 0 21
2015-2016 14 0 4 8 0 26
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
7 579 Stoke City
5 441 Arsenal
4 280 Bournemouth
4 258 Sunderland
4 192 Manchester City
4 138 Swansea City
3 270 Aston Villa
3 234 Manchester United
2 180 Newcastle United
2 180 Leicester City
2 180 WBA
2 180 Villarreal
2 166 Sion
2 141 Blackburn Rovers
2 125 Hull City
2 117 Bordeaux
2 92 Crystal Palace
2 87 Chelsea
2 63 Burnley
1 120 Middlesbrough
1 120 Notts County
1 120 Besiktas
1 90 Ludogorets
1 90 Augsburg
1 90 Real Madrid
1 90 Oldham Athletic
1 90 Southampton
1 90 Norwich City
1 90 Fulham
1 90 Everton
1 83 Sevilla
1 5 West Ham United
1 4 AFC Wimbledon
1 0 QPR
Total Started/substitutions
52 Started
58 On the bench
19 Substitute
10 Substituted
Total Venue
36 Away
35 Home
Total Competition
46 Premier League
9 Europa League
9 League Cup
5 FA Cup
2 Champions League
Total W D L Win % Manager
47 26 11 10 55.3% Brendan Rodgers
24 13 6 5 54.2% Jürgen Klopp
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 1 0 0 0 0 1
2013-2014 0 0 0 0 0 0
2014-2015 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015-2016 1 0 0 0 0 1
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Opponent
1 Aston Villa
Total Started/substitutions
1 Started
0 Substitute
Total Competition
1 Premier League
Total Goal minute period
1 61-75 minutes
Total Goal origin
1 Open play
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 2 0 0 0 0 2
2013-2014 2 0 0 0 0 2
2014-2015 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015-2016 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Total Opponent
1 Everton
1 West Bromwich Albion
Total Competition
2 Premier League
Total For player
1 Daniel Sturridge
1 Luis Suarez
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 17.08.2013 Stoke City Anfield League
50 26.11.2015 Bordeaux Anfield Europe
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 71 14.02.2016 Aston Villa Villa Park League
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Arsenal 2002-2003 Premier League 26 2 40 2
Arsenal 2003-2004 Premier League 37 1 55 3
Arsenal 2004-2005 Premier League 35 0 50 1
Arsenal 2005-2006 Premier League 33 0 46 1
Arsenal 2006-2007 Premier League 35 3 53 4
Arsenal 2007-2008 Premier League 30 2 41 2
Arsenal 2008-2009 Premier League 29 1 41 1
Manchester City 2009-2010 Premier League 31 1 35 2
Manchester City 2010-2011 Premier League 22 1 29 1
Manchester City 2011-2012 Premier League 14 0 20 0
Manchester City 2012-2013 Premier League 15 0 18 0
Celtic 2016-2017 Scotland 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Total 307 11 428 17