Kolo Touré: City must have kicked themselves after letting me join Liverpool for free

Kolo Touré once told Manchester City’s decision-makers they would regret letting him leave — and the Ivorian defender believes events at Liverpool proved him right.

Touré, who joined Liverpool on a free transfer in the summer of 2013 after City declined to offer him a new contract, was blunt in his assessment of the situation. “I was better than certain players at Manchester City, but I was left on the bench,” he told The Sun. “Before I left the club, I told the people in charge that they would regret letting me go. People said I was finished and that I could never get back to my former level. But now I am at Liverpool — and I am sure that City must be kicking themselves when they see how I am performing.”

The centre-back had arrived at City from Arsenal for £14 million in 2009, having been part of the Gunners’ famous unbeaten ‘Invincibles’ squad. He played a role in City’s 2011-12 Premier League title triumph but found himself falling behind Joleon Lescott and Matija Nastasic in the pecking order during his final two seasons at the Etihad.

Touré drew a parallel between his own experience and that of his brother Yaya, who made the move from Barcelona to City in 2010. “I have had a similar experience to Yaya,” he said. “Managers come to clubs bringing players with them, and they want to pick them at all costs — whether they are any good or not. Yaya was much better than Sergio Busquets at Barcelona. But he was behind him in the pecking order, and he found that hard to accept.”

Reflecting on his switch to Merseyside in a 2015 interview, Touré described the call from then-Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers as a pivotal moment. “I was at the end of my contract at City and I wanted to still play in the UK, because the way I finished at City for me wasn’t right,” he said. “When Brendan spoke to me and told me he was considering me to come to the club, I was like ‘wow’. I could have maybe gone to Turkey or other places, but when Brendan told me to come to Liverpool I was so happy. This was another chance to bounce back. What a perfect club to bounce back for me.”

Touré, now 45, spent three seasons at Liverpool before departing in 2016. He later returned to the blue half of Manchester in 2025, joining Pep Guardiola’s backroom staff as an assistant coach at City.