Yaya Toure signs

Forty-eight hours after announcing the capture of David Silva, another expected arrival from La Liga finally materialised as the transfer of Yaya Toure was announced this lunchtime.

The move - long played out in the press - was believed to be for a fee of around £28 million and the twenty-seven year old penned a five year deal that will see him play what should be his best years at Eastlands.

It is no secret that the pursuit of Toure has been a lengthy one, with the Ivorian being courted way back to the early days of Mark Hughes's time at the club and the suggestion in some quarters was that it was a surprise that the club managed to pull the signing off without the lure of Champions League football.

Toure though was keen to stress his delight in signing for the club:

"This is a dream come true, I have always wanted to play for the same club as my brother and I'm so happy that it has finally happened. It's great for our family, we're all so happy about it.

"Kolo told me it's an amazing time for the club and a very exciting project. They want to make some big signings, and I needed a big challenge."

Roberto Mancini also praised the signing:

"This is another fantastic signing for Manchester City, and I am very pleased Yaya has joined us, he is a very good player.

"Everyone knows Yaya is a player that we have admired for a long time, and we would like to welcome him to Manchester City. He has played at the top level with Barcelona and I am sure his experience and ability will be important for us."

Whilst not entirely addressing the need for a truly creative midfielder (say that an Mesut Ozil would do), aligned with the capture of Silva it bolsters the midfield tremendously. Perhaps he will not be a double figures goal scorer form midfield, but as evidenced in the World Cup he will certainly contribute to the goal tally - an area sorely lacking last season.

There are now a huge number of options available to Mancini but one of the key reasons for bringing a Toure in is to lessen the burden that was placed on both Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry last season when they played a high percentage of the games. With the added number of games that Europa League involvement will bring, in addition to a raising of the stakes this season it will be even more of a requirement.

Toure will also offer Mancini the added flexibility of adopting either a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 formation as Toure looks equally capable as part of either a midfield duo or trio and offers more than the sometimes one dimensional de Jong and Barry. 

Much was also made of Toure's lack of opportunity at the Nou Camp, but he was an important part of a squad that achieved so much the past couple of seasons and Pep Guardiola bemoaned his loss:

"It is not good news for us. He is a top player and I would like him to be with us, but he wanted to move on. 

When a player doesn't want to stay at a club he has to move and I wish him all the best. He is an excellent guy, excellent person and I want him to thank him for his marvellous three years in Barcelona.

"Without him, it would have been impossible to win seven trophies in two seasons."

Another positive then as Roberto Mancini gradually begins to put his imprint on a squad that big things will be expected of in 2010/11.