Toure: City move on the cards for six months
Kolo Toure has revealed his move to Manchester City was in the pipeline six months ago.
Toure: City new boy.
Mark Hughes' latest recruit was introduced to the press after signing a four-year deal at Eastlands on Wednesday.
And the 28-year-old says he was fixed on a move north even before fellow former Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor joined the club two weeks ago.
"I think before Adebayor we knew,'' he said. "There was some talk about coming here. It's from six months ago.''
Toure claims he had received offers from abroad, but never contemplated leaving the Premier League.
He said: "I was the last one in the 'Invincibles' team (the Arsenal side that went a whole season unbeaten in the league) and I was expecting to leave Arsenal. I think Arsenal are a really good team, but it was the right time for me to move.
"First I thought I did not want to leave England, even though other teams came in for me. But it was important not to leave for me and my family. Manchester City are a really good team and want to do something. I am really delighted to be here, the future is big.''
Toure said he expects his new club to mount a challenge for the Premier League title next season. "Yes, I believe (so), that's why I am here," he said. "The quality is big, there are fantastic players here.
"I will give everything I have to make the club one of the best in England.''
Hughes is waiting to see whether City will manage to further boost their defence by signingJoleon Lescott, with Everton confirming on Thursday they had rejected an £18million bid for the former Wolves centre-back.
"My understanding is that we've already done that and by all accounts Everton have rejected that,'' the Welshman said of the latest bid. "We'll wait and see.''
Hughes has been impressed with what he has seen so far of 28-year-old Toure.
"We're absolutely delighted Kolo's here,'' he said. "Until you actually work really closely with a player, you have impressions from afar of the qualities they display for their clubs but once you get close up it's reassuring everything you've seen in the past comes to fruition. He's showed that in the space of time over one session.''
He also claimed Toure would still have been purchased had the attempt to lure Chelsea captain John Terry to Eastlands been successful.
"I would say yes,'' he said in reply to that question. "We've looked at players we feel will help us. There's no difference in the quality of players we've targeted. We're looking at players who will be at the same level to help us progress.
"We have a list of category A players of the type that will enable us to be successful in the future. John Terry was on that list and Kolo very much so. We don't move from one player to a less player, we go from one player to next at that level.
"He's going to help us in a great way, his leadership qualities were evident this morning. He has the benefit of being at a top, top club. He understands the mentality you need, we've seen that already.
"We're progressing nicely. The business we've already done is exceptional. We're really pleased with the quality we've been able to bring in. Obviously there's still a way to go in the transfer window and we'll look at opportunities and see what we can bring in.
"They'll have to be top-quality players to improve us. There's always deals to be made towards the end of the window that just present themselves and are right for the club at that time.''
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