Would Kolo Touré be welcomed back to the Emirates?
Kolo Touré’s move to Manchester City in 2009 led to him being labelled as a money-grabber and as a player who failed to repay Wenger’s trust in him since his arrival at the club in 2002, and it now seems that the risk he took didn’t pay off. As well as finding himself second choice in the pecking order behind Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott, his sixth month ban for a failed drug test and subsequent image rights dispute with the club has left him on the verge of leaving in January.
One party interested in giving the Ivorian centre-back another chance is former club Arsenal. After Gael Clichy left the club – also for Manchester City – in the summer of this year, the last member of the Invincibles was gone, but it might not be too late to reintroduce one of them back into the squad. As a player who has captained the Gunners on numerous occasions, as well as being vice-captain to William Gallas during his spell at the Emirates, Touré could prove to be a shrewd choice as back-up for the excelling Koscielny and Vermaelen.
It is unlikely, at least at the moment, that Touré would play much of a part in the bigger games but as an understudy to the aforementioned duo, he could really offer strength to arguably the only part of the team that particularly needs it. The fact that he has played at right-back – as well as in midfield – means that he will offer Arsenal good options defensively, especially with the fairly likely departure of Sebastian Squillaci in the near future.
He is faster than Mertesacker, has excellent leadership qualities and has spent seven years at the club – but does that necessarily mean his welcome would be warm?
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Bring him back! Give him a second chance!
Up the gunners
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
75 
33
No we dont want him
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
70 
39
Yeah! What a good news! Kolo is legend of Arsenal, bring him back!
Opinions divided. What do you think?
37 
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Toure didnt want to leave as much as Wenger wanted to sell him for the money! Clichy and Toure are entirely different to AdebaWhore and na$ri
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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19
YES!!!!!!!!!!!
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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Hey he wanted to go for trophies as dey ol claim not d money so let him sit tight and win dem trophies at shity and mark my words Na$ri and clich¥ wil be next on line looking for salvation from arsenal again i just dont undastand how these boys always turn dia back on arsenal afta making dem woy dey are.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
38 
3
He still remains one of my favourite gunners ever.
And his decision to leave was forced by Wenger always siding with that good for nothing William Gallas in the row between the 2 and therefore making Toure’s life impossible.
Toure was supposed to be the undisputed Arsenal captain when Wenger made Gallas a useless one.
Gallas he now turned foe, turning up for Spurs after disrupting the originally united Arsenal dressing room and Arsenal have never recovered.
So, I don’t know whether Toure has something to give, but if he does and he comes back, It would feel to me as if he never left.
Welcome back.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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13
Well, he is better than Squilacci for sure. Unless he can lower his wages demand else I rather sign Garry Cahill, Vertoughen or even Samba.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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6
I like toure as much as any of you do. He’s got passion & heart whenever he has played for us. I would definitely welcome him back….but we already have 5 first-team center-backs..where does he slot in then? We have to get rid of at least one. IMO we are pretty short of options at either side of the full-back positions, so re-inforcement there would be logical..
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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At wat cost?Will his comn bck mean we aint gettn de likes of Vetonghen and Cahill anymore come winter?,nt dat I was holdn my breath at dat anyway?What will his comn bck really cost us in terms of activities in Winter Trsf & real physical cash?If nothng apart de usual sign on Fee then I’m superbly for it!Bring bck Kolo,at least he’s one hell of a very Dependable & Solid Defender!And we can 4get abt de leaking days in our Bck! [GFL]
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Not sure, but once a player claims he left Arsenal b’cos there are no more class players would not be welcomed back.
The players he left are now jellying and playing some fantastic football.
No let him be gunners.
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If he comes back it implies that he’s ready to fight for his place and to reconsider his wages I guess… I don’t know how much he earns but $hitty has kind of a reputation… In a word if he comes back it would be because he wants to, because he loves the club. So he would be welcomed to me. And he could be a cover for song as well. So why not?
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in other news… cant believe how similar Gotze is to Fabregas in terms of playing style – passing, movement etc etc… almost identical… may as well be Cesc MkII… Gotze is one fantastic player… also, Gotze can play inside and out… perhaps a better deal than another similar player… if Arsene can pay for Gotze half of what he would pay for Hazard, then that is an amazing deal… reckon Arsene should be eying Gotze vs Hazard / Marin / Martin in the next transfer window…
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4 
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No Way!!! I hate players (except: Henry, Pires and Ljungberg) who left Arsenal for money or so called trophies. especially to man city and na$ri.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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I think he is a good option, bring him back & give him a second chance
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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No…the club should be looking FORWARD now…bigger and better defenders…
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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kolo was good wen he played for us. but certainly not currently due lack of playin time i would rather bring a vertonghen (can play cdm,cb,lb)and build on futture.
on goetze arsenal need dis guy for the future ….remember wid cesc nasri and rvp v didnt win nethg so along wid goetxe we will need a adam johnson or ayew or martin .
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Toure will be 32 in March. He is not a first choice in the Citeh team. Not sure how much he would contribute to Arsenal at the moment. As a general rule, Arsene doesn’t invite ex-players back to the fold.
I think we could do better during the January Window.
(My Wife liked him, though, when he was an Arsenal player).
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no, he was never a CB anyway !
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@ T.M I agree. We can’t have players leave then come back. There is a reason why they left. Toure was good, but Arsenal should look into buying a world class defender. I think the LB position was mightily exposed on Saturday. As much as I like Santos, I was dissapointed with his sluggish defending against Chelsea. Wenger should rather look to play him in a more attacking role and purchase a faster LB. Perhaps AW should give Miguel more first team experience, so far he has been very promising. As for Per, well the lack of positioning from him could be due to the whole zonal marking Wenger insists on playing. Not sure, but it looked that way to me. Otherwise Per has been a great addition to our squad. If you look at how Chelsea scored, predominantly it originated from their right wing, meaning our LB position was the problem and not really the CB’s. I also noticed Santo’s was not marking the far post leaving Sturridge and company with too much room when balls came in from the other side. I would keep rotating Per, Verm, and Koss, and look into sorting out the LB and RB positions.
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Arsenal is moving ahead. As long as they have jumped out of the ship not into the water but into another ship, then lets leave them and keep moving ahead.
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No. He’s getting too old and I just can’t fathom taking back any player who left us for City & a bigger paycheck only to ride the bench. I don’t care how much better an option he would be than the Squid. Sell Squillaci to some second rate French team and bring in some quality.
& AYJ… spot on about Gotze. He’s on his way to being one of the most sought after players in the world. Him, Hazard, Neymar are gonna have ridiculous money thrown at them this summer.
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No second coming for Toure! He is far too easy to be bullied by opponents. 2008 Champion League Qtr Final match against Liverpool during which Ryan Babel easily tricked him and the referee awarded penalty. That was the time when i started to question Wenger.
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7 
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I kolo will be a good addition to the team, if its possible bring back and give him a second chance just like the prodical son. He far better thatn carl that gives me panik anytime is on the field.
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get fd! arsenal is too proud a club to give these players who leave second chances. hope toure rotts, and hleb, flamini, nasri, cesc…
lets look forward and not back.
anyway, we have 4 top CBs, plus miquel and squilacci…..this is complete rumour. what will we do with them all?
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i think we’re fine thanks, defense geling well now. so nope, dont need players that wanted to leave back so that they can feel like the “saviour” of Arsenal when they come.
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@mark agree agree agree
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the only players that might be welcomed are Fabregas n Henry . bt since henry is abit old ,only fabregas is welcomed.
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I do like toure but, you have to move on. From none to many, we have leaders already. The club is moving in a new direction now and cannot afford to deviate. We just need to sign a couple more players, in defence and mids to make this club great again. Don’t go back, move forward!
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I don’t think we should buy anyone January except hazard or gotze. We now have an awsome team. Just needs a couple top stars. Wenger knew what he was doing all along!
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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It wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up at spuds. I can put my money on Harry Redknapp trying his all to get him, they seem to go after everyone we show an interest in or our former players because they want to be like us. I hope he doesn’t join the scum though.
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Bring him back even if it is only to shere his wifes slimming pills with santos and arshavin!!
seriously though i cannot believe this article is serious. here is a player considered to be worse than joleon lescott awhy would we want him?
he had his chance won himself a place in arsenal.history and a couple of trophies to boot. what he achieved was far above expectations he should be happy with that and so ahould we. there are better players here already and far better players that we could bring in. sure he is better than squillaci but lets face it who isnt?
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5 
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never go back for one
and why take on board the liabiltiy of an ‘african cup of nations’ absentee
we have suffered with that before lauren – kanu – adebayor – toure – eboue – chamakh – song – etc etc…
this time arround we will lose gervinho – chamakh & frimpong
why sign another player that takes part in this bi-annual nonsense
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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some of you say yes some say no.
i understand both sides and we can debate all day long who is right and who is wrong, but i have a question to ask.
if FABBREGAS wants to come back what is our answer to that???????. some how we are getting better at tha back but still we dont have a comanding leader and he is one,
hey we all do work for living and if some one else for our abbilities offers more money i am pretty sore we dont say no, because is human nature grass is aleays greener on the other side and he never spoke bad about us the fans unlike nasri which seems to get confrontable at the bench where he belongs. so i think yes he is welcome and we all if he doesw should give him a warming come back
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every player who requested to leave arsenal always live to regret it, except Venry, and Viera. look at anelka, petit, overmars, reyes, sol campbell, gallas, adebayor,toure, etc. clichy, fab, and nasri will be no different….
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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if u take a step bkwrd it wl tk u 2 stps 2 mv bynd were u were originaly. CAPITAL NO!
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6 
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Of all the centre backs in all the world……… Nothing against Kolo but there are surely better options around now if we need another CB.
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nice guy toure but i dont think he would be a major addition..afc made him the player he is and he repayed us with good performances and loyalty…he spoke up 4 the afc fans when adebayor did his mercenary run but dont think wenger will go 4 him…why is redknapp tryin to buy afc past players all the time…its a bit weird..does he think if they play well against afc the spurs fans will think hes great manager..with his wage bill at tottenham why is bluffin that if they make the top 4 it would be unbelieveable..no ambition thfc..praise 4 nothing
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I like him as a player but dont i belive that he should be brought back into the team. Age is not on his side and at the moment Arsenal need players who can play for another 3 or more years. We have enough leaders in the team so there is no point buying him becuase of his leadership skills. I would rather remember him as part of that all conquering arsenal team.
Its interesting that this article came up, I was discussing Nasri with some friends over the weekend. I dont follow $hitty a lot but from what i have seen the guy does not get a lot of first team action. At Arsenal he was almost guaranteed to start but he left for bigger things. I’m not saying he got what he deserved or that he should come back, but as a football player is it not important that you see a lot of first team action?
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he left cos he didn’t talk to gallas… they had a fight, and there were no offers for gallas while city paid up for toure, and one had to leave… than gallas had trouble with nasri and more players, and he left also… if kolo doesn’t ming not being first choice, it would be great to get him…
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1 
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We don’t need betrayer Toure!Forget that option!
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Kolo is gr8t player he served arsenal wit loyalty,bt i tink he should find clubs dat r looking 4 pensioners,no going back.
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@undisclosed that slimming pill joke killed me lol
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we want VENTROGHEN..
no body else..
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Yes we need Toure……. YAYA TOURE!!!
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why would he come back to Arsenal and get paid less for sitting on a bench? He’s made his bed… spend the wages on someone with a future.
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3 
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NOT A CHANCE WE DON’T WANT TO BE USED JUST COS THEY DON’T WANT HIM,
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Who wrote this article? You ARE aware that Toure is being disciplined by Manchester City for taking performance enhancing drugs right? Why on earth would Arsenal want a player with that baggage?
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3 
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it’s a tricky question when it concerns Kolo.
The only reason he left was because Gallas came in and ruined the whole team spirit in the first place and instead of letting Gallas go we let Kolo.
Well we can all see where Gallas ended up so no surprises there.
The thing is that most players regret leaving our great club eventually so we shouldn’t take them back seeing as they made the decision to leave in the first place.
I will however always cheer him when he comes to our ground, unless he scores against us and celebrates that is.
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kolo should come back only if its a loan. this woud give djourou or jenkinson the chance to go on loan and get game time
alternitavley he should go psg and embark on their new project
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The question we need to ask is if he was getting first team football with shity would he still want to come back to us? The answer is a definite no. Why should we give him a lifeline? He was the one that wanted to leave in the first place. Although I do admire him and the service he gave us think that signing him would be a step back not forward. Think we only need to sign 2 players in January Cahil or Samba (preferably samba as in my opinion he has been the better player this season) and hazard will do nicely.
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clichy the part of invincible? on the bench?? useles..santos even better than em..nasri i think we dnt miss em so much! he n clichy..with santos n gibbs the left back is even better…no change…with gervinho..we attack more..so no change..with nasri we jst hv that creativity..so f we get hazard..even better..no change… so we left with fabregas..the midfield spanish creativity playmaker such as silva n matta(which wud suits us..n shud b ours oredy)..so we left with that..f we gt goetze..so this two addition r even one that is goetze..arsenal wil remain the same..bt even.better in attacking.. stil with dfence problem..koscielny combine with vermaelen wud b gud..bench mert…djourou n squid go..in january squid go n we gt vertonghen…he cn cover in central n also play left back similar with vermaelen loves going up with confidence with their lovely strike..i think wenger wont go for samba since he is xpensive with hes age..bt he hs that experience..leadership strong..n realy bad wana join us.. feel sory for em..he wud b huge boost for the defence..remind me of campbell..he cn even score from set pieces..dnt ndrstand why wenger go for mert..with evryone n first list but finaly tke on from the last..no ofence mert..u stil a gud adition to gunner..bt dnt knw why i still prefer samba than u..wenger keen on sakho for long term replacement so dnt knw bout samba..and bout cahill wenger wont go for em..i jst knw it..
so anyway f squid go in january..vertonghen n kolo toure wud b a gud adition..djourou f he doesnt improved sell em on the next summer..
so after january f it gud our defences wud b;
koscielny,tv5,mert,toure,vertonghen(left back,backup for central dfence too)….and in squid position like ryt now djourou..
sagna-kos-tv5-vertonghen
jenkinson-toure-mert-santos/gibbs
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bt stil think we shud nt bring him back..squid n djourou out…vertonghen n sambe..both wil b gud adition..bt seems that wenger keen on the belgium..n btween hazard n goetze..goetze the most likely in january..
so in jan hpefuly we wud see vertonghen n goetze sign for us..with squid go..djourou f he go..then wenger shud go for samba..most likely now the both..the two wil enough..n that two that fans wud wna see..f wenger wna go for more r othrs its up to em..jst atleast gt two r three that keep been mentioning..vertonghen is a must, goetze n hazard..either one wil b gud..bt f we get both that wud b lovely!!!
) soryyy toure..in shityy i wud jst love f we gt silva r adam johnson..bt mostly there i wud love to see at us is silva n matta..bt both goes elsewhere..so we shud gt hazard n goetze..haha..even one of them wud b lovely..next summer bought the other one..mwahaha..
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No thanks – The defence has kept clean sheets now over the last few games and is getting better.
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