Kolo Toure: Ranking ex-Arsenal star’s top five African teammates

Kolo Toure

Ivory Coast legend Kolo Toure turned 39 on Thursday, and to honour the former Arsenal and Manchester City centre-back’s big day, Goal have put together a list of his top five African teamates.

The former defender—who’s currently part of Brendan Rodgers’ coaching staff at Leicester City—is one of only eight players to have won the Premier League with two different clubs, and also became a Scottish champion with Celtic.

Toure has played alongside some of the finest players of the PL era, and was also a key member of the Ivorians’ Golden Generation, winning the Nations Cup in 2015.

However, who are the best players the West African played alongside in his career? Here are our top five.

Salomon Kalou

One of the more underrated African players of his generation, Kalou amassed a cabinet’s-worth of major silverware while at Chelsea, including four FA Cups and the Premier League title.

The highlight, surely, was the Champions League triumph of 2012, and the attacker has subsequently gone on to impress in Ligue 1 with LOSC Lille and the Bundesliga with Hertha Berlin.

Kalou and Toure, London rivals in the Prem, were teammates together at a pair of World Cups, and at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, where they finally ended the Golden Generation’s years of disappointment with a continental crown.

Lauren

The Cameroon wideman starred alongside Kolo as a member of Arsenal’s Invincibles side of 2003-04, where both were critical members of that side’s success.

That season’s league triumph was one of two that Lauren enjoyed in North London, while the right-back also enjoyed FA Cup success alongside Toure in 2003 and 2005.

Some of Lauren’s finest moments, however, came with the Indomitable Lions, where he won two Africa Cup of Nations titles, played at two World Cups, and won Olympic gold in 2000.

Nwankwo Kanu

Another African superstar to enjoy some of his finest years at Arsenal, Kanu and Toure overlapped following the latter’s arrival in 2002.

They were champions together in 2004—the year of the Invincibles—although while Kolo was a key figure of that side, Kanu only made 10 league appearances during that memorable campaign.

The Nigeria superstar had earlier won the 2002 league title with Arsenal, and also won two FA Cups during his time in North London.

One of the most unorthodox and unpredictable players of the Premier League era, Kanu was a beloved figure at several different clubs, and remains one of the greatest Nigerian players of all time.

Yaya Toure

Kolo’s brother was always going to be a shoo-in for this list.

Yaya is one of the finest African players of all time—a four-time African Footballer of the Year—and a genuine Premier League great.

The pair played together at Manchester City, where they were league winners in 2012, although Kolo was suspended after failing a drug test and missed the FA Cup success of 2011.

In 2015, the duo were two of the experienced heads as Herve Renard’s Ivorian side clinched the Nations Cup, finally winning continental gold for the remaining members of the Golden Generation.

Didier Drogba

Unlike Yaya and Kolo, Drogba never got his hands on the Afcon title, having retired before the Elephants’ success in Bata in 2015.

However, he and the elder Toure did feature in three World Cups together and twice reached the Nations Cup final—in 2006 and 2012, where they were defeated by Egypt and Zambia respectively.

Despite his failures at international level, Drogba has established himself as one of Africa’s greatest players of all time, due in no small part to his successes with Chelsea, with whom he won four Premier League titles.

The powerful striker always rose to the big occasion, and as well as inspiring Chelsea to the title in 2012, he also won four FA Cup titles and a swathe of other honours—including a League Cup final over Kolo’s Arsenal in 2007.