Ex-Man City & Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure joins the eighth club of his career
Yaya Toure has joined the eighth club of his career, signing for Chinese second division club Qingdao Huanghai.
The former Manchester City and Barcelona midfielder had been without a club since leaving Olympiacos in December last year.
Yaya Toure moves to China: Five key things to know…
- Toure’s contract with Greek club Olympiakos was terminated in December 2018.
- In May, the 36-year-old’s agent claimed his client had retired from football.
- But Toure moved quickly to deny those claims, insisting he wanted to continue in the sport.
- He has now joined Chinese second division club Quingdao Huanghai.
- Toure has won the Champions League and five domestic titles across spells in Spain and England.
There had been some confusion as to whether Toure had retired from football after leaving Greece.
But the Ivorian says he is now ready to take up a new challenge in China.
“Since the start of my career I have always loved challenges and now I will make history once again with Qingdao Huanghai,” Toure said.
“I can’t wait to let my football do the magic once again.”
Toure won the Champions League and two La Liga titles with Barcelona before leaving the Catalan giants for Manchester City in 2010.
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He lifted the Premier League three times at the Etihad and is considered one of City’s greatest ever players.
Back in January 2017 when he was still a City player, Toure suggested he would never move to China.
“Me to China? No….I’m still looking young, right? I want to play in Europe, especially in England. I want to continue doing that for a few years yet,” he said.
“It’s my idea to stay in England, I always say that if I went to China I would end up feeling angry there. Do you play football because you love football – or do you play because you want to make money? What’s the purpose?”
