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Arsenal icon left Arsene Wenger 'unable to walk' and made reporters sing at work
Kolo Toure certainly left his mark on Arsene Wenger during his time at Arsenal.
Kolo Toure certainly left his mark on Arsene Wenger during his time at Arsenal, with the Ivorian going down as a cult hero in north London. The defender was a member of the Invincibles squad during the 2003/04 season and went on to make 326 appearances for the Gunners in all competitions.
Toure spent his youth career at ASEC Mimosas in the Ivory Coast before catching the eye of Arsenal, who invited him for a trial in 2002. He made a big impression with his physical approach to defending, which left Wenger unable to walk after he was on the receiving end of a heavy challenge.
Arsenal icon Ray Parlour explained what happened on talkSPORT last year, saying: "The first ball goes into [Thierry] Henry, and from nowhere, Kolo Toure takes him out. Wenger is like: 'Kolo, no kicking!' Next minute, they swap over, [Dennis] Bergkamp goes up against Toure now.
"The ball goes in, and he takes Bergkamp out! So now, Wenger is getting really irritated. We had big games coming up, and with Henry and Bergkamp out, we could not win the league, simple as that, and we had a trialist kick them! So anyway, the next ball goes in, and Toure makes a really good interception.
"The ball spins up, and then he follows the ball, the ball lands right at Arsene Wenger's feet. Boof, he takes him out!"
Wenger did not come out of the challenge unscathed as he had to retreat to the physio room with a swollen ankle. The Frenchman later returned to the training pitch with an ice pack but the ordeal did not stop him from signing Toure on a permanent basis.
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Toure went on to join Manchester City in the summer of 2009 before leaving four years later to sign for Liverpool, where he stayed for three seasons. He was certainly a big character and showed his personality in a bizarre press conference after moving to Celtic in 2016.
When asked what his favourite chant was, Toure seemed to misunderstand the question as he answered: "Whitney Houston." He went on to lead the entire room of reporters in a rendition of the Kolo and Yaya Toure song, which is still regularly heard at sporting events around the world despite both players having since retired.
Toure has dabbled in management since hanging up his boots in 2017 after just one season at Celtic Park. His last job at Wigan Athletic ended in disaster when he was sacked after only nine games, none of which the Latics won, and he remains out of work almost two years later.