Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is determined to strengthen his back line as Jamie Carragher has hanged his boots and the out of favour Martin Skrtel and youngster Sebastián Coates is not going to help his cause either. Rumours are coming in strongly that Liverpool are looking to bring in ex-Arsenal man Kolo Toure to Anfield.
While he has inquired about Douglas and also Schalke’s Greece international Kyriakos Papadopolous, reports suggest that Rodgers has roped in Kolo Toure to join in from next summer.
The former Arsenal player was rock solid in the defence when he played for the Gunners upto 2009 following which he was bought by Manchester City for a reported fee of £16m where he has found himself in the bench more often than he might have wished for. So an extension of contract was not offered to him after his four year stint at the Etihad, and thus Toure again becomes a free agent in the summer.
Liverpool, who need to strengthen their squad a bit in the transfer window to challenge for the much discussed top four spot, do not have a huge transfer kitty to operate with and under these circumstances, Toure will definitely be one of the best option for the club and this is the primary reason that Rodgers believes Toure should be brought in.
Although he is 32 years old and not in sync with the transfer policy of the club, which advocates for talented young players, Toure may provide the defence with the leadership that it would lack in the post Carragher era. He has played more than 300 matches in the Premier League and that experience would prove to be priceless for the side, which still consists of a lot of players very new to the league.
Toure is currently with the Man City team in the United States for their post season tour and it is believed that once he comes back to England, he will be going through a medical at Liverpool. So come 1st July, 2013, expect Kolo Toure to sport a red shirt at his new home Anfield.