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Yaya Toure leaves Man City as the Premier League's forgotten legend
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Mohamed Salah created a piece of history earlier this week by
becoming the first African to win the Football Writers' Association's
Footballer of the Year award.
For an honour dating back
to 1948, Salah's success was perhaps overdue, especially considering the
great African players to have graced English football's top flight
during the Premier League era, but many would argue that the Egyptian
should have been beaten to that distinction by a player who will depart
the stage in the next week to far less fanfare than he deserves.
Because
of the way he has been left to fade away at Manchester City by Pep
Guardiola this season, Yaya Toure is in danger of becoming one of the
forgotten legends of the Premier League.
But with the clock also
running down for the likes of Arsene Wenger and Michael Carrick -- both
men have been afforded warm tributes in recent weeks -- and Andres
Iniesta's departure from Barcelona being accompanied by tearful
teammates at a news conference this week, Toure's contribution at City
deserves greater acclaim.
But for another Liverpool whirlwind by
the name of Luis Suarez, Toure would almost certainly have walked away
with the Footballer of the Year trophy in 2014 and beaten Salah by four
years to the distinction of being the first African winner.
The
Ivory Coast midfielder scored an incredible 20 goals in 35 Premier
League appearances that season as City mounted a late surge to the title
to deny Suarez and Liverpool in the final straight, but after his own
impressive campaign, the individual award went to the Uruguay forward.
Didier
Drogba and Riyad Mahrez have both gone close to winning the award,
while Nwankwo Kanu and Michael Essien also advanced the cause of African
players in England with their performances for Arsenal and Chelsea,
respectively.
But Toure is perhaps a unique case when it comes to his status in the game because, as his time at City draws to a close, his contribution during the past decade continues to be largely overlooked beyond the blue half of Manchester.
There would be a strong case to suggest that not only has Toure been
the best African player to play in the Premier League, but he has
arguably been the most influential of any player in English football in
recent years too.
He was the first big signing at City back in
2010, the one whose arrival from Barcelona persuaded the likes of David
Silva and then Sergio Aguero to follow.
He was a crucial figure in
all of City's successes, prior to this season, with his winning goals
in the 2011 FA Cup -- in both the semifinal against Manchester United
and final against Stoke City -- and a pivotal strike at Newcastle in the
2011-12 title run-in some of the most important moments in the club's
history.
Off-field issues have not helped Toure secure the legacy
he deserves. The ridiculous fuss over City's apparent failure to
celebrate his birthday properly in 2014, which led to him eventually
being given a birthday cake, turned Toure into a figure of fun and
unfairly shifted the focus away from his playing ability.
The cake
saga continues to hang over him, but that confected row should not be
allowed to deny Toure his place alongside Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira,
Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard as the most dominant midfielders of the
past 20 years, both in terms of impact and longevity.
At his
best, Toure was unstoppable -- a buccaneering powerhouse who could
destroy and create, score goals and take charge of a game through his
sheer physical presence.
There is a debate among City as to the
best player in the club's history -- Silva tends to win that one, but
Toure is up there with the Spain playmaker.
As it stands, though,
the 34-year-old enters the final week of his final year as a City player
having made just nine Premier League starts this season.
Guardiola's team has undoubtedly moved on this year, with Kevin De
Bruyne and Fernandinho forcing Toure out of the picture, but there was a
time not so long ago when the Ivorian did the jobs of both players
under the management of Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini.
He
has been underused at times by Guardiola, whose public spat with Toure's
agent has left the player frozen out for periods during the past two
seasons, but now is the time for City to give Toure the sendoff he
deserves.
He is likely to claim the spotlight by facing Brighton
at the Etihad next Wednesday, but his contribution during City's rise to
the top merits more than a wave to the fans on his final home
appearance.
Considering their successes of recent years, City have yet to find a way to truly celebrate their greats of this golden era.
Carlos
Tevez, Mario Balotelli, Joe Hart, Gareth Barry, James Milner and
Mancini all played significant roles in their rise, but they have been
airbrushed somewhat by the focus on Guardiola and the Catalan influence
at the club.
Toure started all that, though. He moved to City from
Barcelona before it was a well-trodden path and he has since
illuminated the Etihad and the Premier League.
He has also been
the best African to play in the league, a genuine trailblazer, so Toure
deserves to be celebrated by more than just those of a City persuasion.
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