Yaya Toure will make his 300th Manchester City appearance this evening after being named in the starting XI for the game against West Brom.
The Ivorian joined in 2010 and has played a significant role in the City’s recent success, winning two Premier League titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup in his seven full seasons at the Club.
Having been restricted to a defensive role during his time at Barcelona, he was given much more freedom after joining City and quickly established a reputation as one of the most complete midfielders in the game.
In his first year, he scored 12 goals in 51 appearances, including winners in both the semi-final and final of the FA Cup as City ended a 35-year wait for silverware.
His goal against Manchester United in the semi-final, which saw him dispossess Michael Carrick and put the ball between Edwin Van Der Sar’s legs, sparked a wave of optimism across the City supporters, and a month later he repeated the trick by smashing home past Thomas Sorensen as City defeated Stoke in the final, securing the Club’s first major piece of silverware since the 1976 League Cup.
The following campaign saw him play a key role in City’s first title win in 44 years. He capped a brilliant performance by scoring two goals in the penultimate game away at Newcastle to put City on the brink of the title. In total, he scored nine goals in 42 games and continued to forge a reputation as one of the finest midfielders of the Premier League era.
But perhaps his finest season came in 2013/14. City won the Premier League and the League Cup, with Yaya scoring 24 goals in all competitions, including a wonderful long-range effort in the League Cup final win over Sunderland at Wembley. His 20 Premier League strikes saw him become only the second central-midfielder to score 20 in a single league campaign.
In 2016, he scored the winning penalty in the League Cup final win over Liverpool, consolidating his status a big-game player, and played 10 times in the Champions League as City reached the semi-finals, their best performance in the competition to date.
In total, he has scored 82 goals in his 300 appearances across all competitions. In his 220 Premier League appearances, he has directly contributed to 92 goals (62 goals and 30 assists).
The name Yaya Toure will forever be etched in City’s history and tonight everyone at the Club would like to congratulate him on reaching a new milestone.
Here, we look back at a classic CityTV video, where Yaya chooses his top five Premier League strikes.
