Kolo Toure, a brother of Manchester City and Barcelona legend Yaya Toure, has emerged as the new Wigan manager.
Wigan Athletic took to their social media handle to confirm the former Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City defender as their new manager after former manager Leam Richardson was dismissed early in November following a string of poor results.
Richardson lost his job after the team went on eight matches without a win.
According to reports, Yaya Toure, a younger brother of Kolo Toure, was approached for the role before Kolo Toure was appointed.
The Barcelona and Manchester City legend reportedly turned down the offer for unknown reasons.
After Yaya Toure rejected the offer, Wigan’s management turned to Kolo Toure to replace Leam Richardson.
Kolo Toure accepted the offer, and Wigan announced the appointment of the former Arsenal defender as the new manager of the club.
Kolo Toure is now the first African international to manage a senior and top club like Wigan in the English football league.
It has been confirmed the former Premier League star will be joined by Kevin Betsy and Ashvir Johal, with assistant manager Rob Kelly ready to continue on his role.
Kolo Toure will now be in charge of Wigan’s first game against Millwall after the World Cup break.
He will travel to Turkey to meet up with the club’s first team, who are currently on a mid-season training camp.
Speaking after the appointment of Kolo Toure as the new manager, Wigan Chief Executive Malachy Brannigan said the club is delighted to have Kolo Toure become the new manager of the club and that he has been selected among the top applicants who expressed interest in the role.
‘We are delighted that Kolo has become the new manager of Wigan Athletic Football Club, and the Board is pleased that he is the man to take us forward.
‘We received a high calibre of applicants for the manager’s job in recent weeks, in a very thorough recruitment process as we looked to appoint the right person for the role.
‘From the earliest of conversations we had with Kolo, it was evident to us that he had instantly bought into the values of the Club – with his enthusiasm, knowledge and immense desire to work and be part of Wigan Athletic shining throughout the process.’
The Chief Executive further hinted at his faith in Toure’s choice of a positive football and hopes he will bring same to bear at Wigan to make the club stronger and pledged the board, including the Lactic supporters, will work together with Toure to establish the club as a Championship club
‘As a Board of Directors, we look forward to working closely with Kolo and his team as the work begins collectively to establish Wigan Athletic as a Championship Club.’
Kolo Toure
Born on 19 March, 1981 in Bouake, Ivory Coast, Kolo Toure is a former Premier League player who played as a defender for top Premier League sides and the Ivory Coast national team.
Kolo Toure played for the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City. He has served as a first-team coach for Leicester City and is currently the new manager of Wigan Athletic.
Kolo Toure started his football career with the Asec Mimosas youth team before making his first senior appearance for the club from 1999 to 2002.
In 2002, he joined Arsenal and played for seven years for the Gunners, making 225 appearances, and scoring 9 goals.
In 2009, Toure joined another Premier League giant – Manchester City. He played for four years for the Citizens from 2009 to 2013, making 85 appearances, and scoring 2 goals.
Toure joined Liverpool in 2013 till 2016 and made 46 appearances for the Reds, scoring one goal. In the twilight of his football career, the former Ivory Coast international joined Scottish giants Celtic in 2016; played for only one year, making only 9 appearances.
Before finally retiring from football in September 2017, Kolo Toure made a total 342 club appearances and scored 12 goals.
He also made a total of 120 appearances with the national team from 2000 to 2015, scoring 7 seven goals.
He has won the Premier League, FA Cup, Community Shield, Scottish League, and Scottish FA Cup.
Kolo Toure retired from international football in 2015 and from club football in 2017. After calling it a quit at Celtic, he took a coaching role with the Scottish champions.
