Kolo Toure: Liverpool will move for Manchester City defender
Liverpool will move for Manchester City defender Kolo Toure on a free transfer once his contract expires in June.
With Jamie Carragher having retired, Liverpool are looking to sign two centre backs and Schalke’s Kyriakos Papadopoulos is a leading target.
Toure is in the United States as part of City’s post-season tour but the proposed move to Anfield is likely to progress quickly once he returns.
The 32-year-old joined City from Arsenal in July 2009 for £14m.
The expected signing of the Ivory Coast international goes against the Liverpool owners’ preference for buying youth and he would be the first player over the age of 24 that Brendan Rodgers has signed since taking charge at Anfield.
Toure only made 18 appearances for Manchester City in the 2012-13 season and was left out of their squad for the Champions League campaign.
He and younger brother Yaya Toure were part of the Blues’ team that won the Premier League in 2012, the club’s first title for 44 years.
However, his City career never recovered from a six-month ban during the 2010-11 season for taking a banned substance found in diet pills.
Kolo Toure factfile
- Born: 19 March 1981
- Position: Defender
- Club career: Arsenal 2002-09 (326 appearances, 14 goals), Manchester City (102 appearances, three goals)
- International record: 105 appearances, six goals
