« Previous: No. 14, Santi Cazorla | Next: No. 12, Thibaut Courtois »
Welcome to ESPN FC's #PremRank.
Beginning May 25, ESPN FC is counting down the top 50 players in the Premier League right now, as voted for by various columnists, editors and analysts. Who makes the cut? Disagree with our list? Tell us on Twitter using the hashtag #PremRank.
Why Yaya Toure makes the list
If Yaya Toure's time at City is to finally end in the summer, this stuttering and underwhelming season hardly felt like the fitting way to finish it for one of the club's two most important players over the past half-decade, but it did reflect a broader reality from that period. Manuel Pellegrini's team still looked better when Toure was in the team, with the midfielder still capable of the absolutely spectacular.
Some of his strikes this season were among his best ever, most notably the effort against Aston Villa and the pile-driver against Sunderland on New Year's Day. The problem is that the reason those moments were more isolated, and that he played at his best so infrequently, is because it looks like the 32-year-old is no longer capable of playing at the same consistency. He was often lost in a 4-4-2, and it is probably better for everyone that City start to look for new ways to win. It should never obscure the fact, though, that he was one of their most decisive ever players. This season had enough supreme cameos to remind us of that.
-- Miguel Delaney
The stats that tell the story
- Led the Premier League with 98 touches and 77 passes completed per 90 minutes this season.
- Man City won only three of the nine league games he missed this season (five draws, one loss). That's an average of 1.6 points per game without Toure, compared to 2.2 points per game when he played.
What the experts say
"Toure has played an instrumental part in every single trophy the club has lifted since they ended their trophy drought with the FA Cup four years ago. He was the catalyst for a change in mentality, as City went from also-rans to regular winners." -- David Mooney, May 2015.
"Yaya Toure's 21st-minute strike had appeared to settle their early nerves, albeit in fortunate circumstances. Finally responding to the Swansea pressure, David Silva slipped the ball to Toure, whose shot was deflected past Lukasz Fabianski via Ashley Williams' knee." -- Iain Macintosh, May 2015.
"In all, Toure has missed six league matches this season and City have failed to win a single one of them, with five draws and a defeat -- coming at the hands of Arsenal." -- WhoScored.com, February 2015.