The former Ivory Coast international opened up about his time playing with his Yaya during their three years together at the Club while on City’s Matchday Live show for the Chelsea game last weekend.
And while initially apprehensive about Yaya joining City one year after him, it turned out wonderfully as the combative, classy midfielder went on to make 316 appearances in all competitions during his eight seasons at the Club.
“I was worried for him coming from Barcelona and the expectation was really high and he wasn’t doing particularly well,” said Kolo.
“And I was feeling bad because I wanted him to do really well.
“And obviously he then just went on. He did so well after. I was so proud of him.
“When I was playing at the back and every time Yaya lost the ball I would fight to get the ball back more than when other players lost it. I cared a lot about him.”
It was a very apt topic given City’s Elite Development Squad coach, Brian Barry-Murphy, was also on the show given his experience of managing brothers at City - the Academy’s Heskey duo.
Jaden, who captains City’s Under-18s, played alongside Reigan, aged 15, in our City Under-19s UEFA Youth League triumph over Young Boys earlier this month.
It was the first time the brothers played together in a competitive match and both played key roles in the 3-0 victory, with Reigan scoring and assisting in the first half.
It was also the first time Barry-Murphy coached players from the same family and found Kolo’s advice very useful if he is to coach the Heskey brothers again in the near future.
“That’s probably the same for Jaden and Reigan,” said Barry-Murphy after Kolo spoke about the protective mindset he had when playing with Yaya.
“Jaden is Emile’s [Heskey] son and a young player but he is a target man but Reigan is very much an out and out wide player who can eliminate players one v one and totally different.
“So Jaden probably has that same protective nature already, irrespective of how young they are.”
Watch the full clip from Matchday Live in the video above!
