All the ingredients were there for the transfer to materialise. His brother was already at Highbury, Arsene Wengers penchant for young talent was well-established, and Arsenal were in need of a midfield enforcer to replace the ageing Patrick Vieira. He even had a trial with the club in 2003 - he truly was the one who got away.
''It would be up at the top of my list of regrets. But lets not forget that Yaya Toure had an agreement with us - and its not because we did not want to sign him that he went to Ukraine. We needed to wait for his passport in Belgium. We have made mistakes but he is not a mistake, its just the fact that he preferred to go to Metalurh Donetsk. He could go there without any passport. - Arsene Wenger, March 2014.
Toure has gone on to establish himself as one of the finest midfield powerhouses in world football, winning a historic treble with Barcelona during the 08/09 season, then adding another La Liga title the following season before sealing a £24 million move to Manchester City where has a trophy haul of two league titles, two domestic trophies and a Community Shield. Having spent the last four years dominating over Arsene Wengers side, Toure will feel that his eyebrow-raising decision to trade London for Donetsk in 2003 paid dividends in the long run.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
