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Nieuws
- 54 minutes ago
Yaya Toure insists he was a better footballer than brother Kolo
Martin Macdonald
- 20 Dec 2025 02:15 CST
- 5 min read
Nieuws
Yaya Toure has opened up on the sibling rivalry between himself and brother Kolo.
The Toure brothers became cult figures during their days in the Premier League, to the point where a famous chant was made for the pair.
"Kolo, Kolo Kolo, Kolo Kolo, Kolo Kolo Toure...Yaya...Yaya Yaya..."
You know the one.
Both excellent players on their day, they won plenty of honours during their time in England. Yaya Earned three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and two League Cups during his tenure with Manchester City, while Kolo also won the Premier League with Man City as well as with Arsenal as he was part of the famed 'Invincibles' squad who went unbeaten in 2003/04.
Kolo's time with the Gunners also yielded two FA Cups while he also had a spell with Liverpool in England.
The achievements of both were naturally compared due to the fact they are siblings - by no one more so than themselves, it seems.
In an interview with BBC Sport, Yaya insisted he was the better footballer.
“I always say that [I was the best] because it was a bitter rivalry between me and him.
“But at some point I felt it got to the point that he knew I was better in some parts of the game than him.
“I think he, physically, was better because that’s all this kind of coming down from my father as well, right? Because he was very focused, dedicated, and you know, he always had that discipline, right?
“Well, me and Kolo, we’ve always been that type of thing (dedicated), but at some point Kolo realised that I was like… a bit better, but he was not frustrated because he wanted to push that boundary very far, right?
“Like, who’s going to be the best and who’s going to achieve more and at some point I got better.”
Yaya is currently assistant manager of the Saudi Arabia national team.
As well as Man City, he played for Beveren, Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos, Monaco, Qingdao Huanghai and Barcelona, with whom he won the Champions League in 2009.
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