Kolo Toure Bio

After joining Arsenal as something of a jack-of-all-trades, Toure has emerged as an essential player at the heart of the defence.

Arsenal signed Toure for an undisclosed sum, in the region of a paltry £150,000, from Asec Mimosas in February 2002.

Toure, aged 20 when joining the club, earned a deal after spending a period on trial at Highbury. He excelled during two games against West Ham United and had 17 caps to his name when joining the club after making his international debut against Rwanda in April 2000.

He impressed on Arsenal's tour of Austria in the summer of 2002, which led to his Gunners debut in the FA Community Shield victory over Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium.

The talented player continued to be a regular feature in the first team squad throughout the first month of the season, putting in a number of impressive performances from the bench.

After such a fine start to the campaign, his performances dipped a little and he was sent off in the Champions League draw with PSV Eindhoven at Highbury.

If he had a good start to his Highbury career, then 2003/04 was on another level altogether. Toure was immense in central defence, barely putting a foot wrong as Arsenal lifted the title without losing a single Premiership game.

He continued to excel in the Arsenal team, helping the team to FA Cup glory in 2005, and he has been sorely missed when on African Nations Cup duty.

Seen by many as a future Arsenal captain, Toure has formed a useful partnership with William Gallas and his pace and power have become a vital part of the Arsenal backline.