Two years ago today, Vincent Kompany took the microphone at the Etihad Stadium and reeled off a list of Yaya Toure’s greatest Manchester City achievements.

“If there’s ever going to be a legend at the club, then it’s this man,” Kompany told a packed Etihad, who had all waited after the final whistle to say farewell to Toure.

“To be a legend, you have to have a tremendous amount of talent, longevity, and you need to be there in key moments. I just want to remind a few of them.

“Semi final, FA Cup, Manchester United. Yaya Toure. Final against Stoke City, FA Cup. Yaya Toure. First league-winning title, two goals against Newcastle. Yaya Toure again.

“Second league title, Crystal Palace away. Yaya Toure again. League Cup final, Sunderland. Yaya Toure. League Cup final against Liverpool, Yaya Toure.”

The mention of each classic Yaya moment was greeted with a cheer louder than the last, and Kompany’s final words prompted the biggest cheer of all.

“If you’re not going to be a legend with that, you’re never going to be a legend.”

Toure is undoubtedly one of City’s greatest ever players, and his presence in each of those big moments listed by Kompany shows just how crucial he was in the club’s rise from Premier League relegation contenders to regular trophy-winners and European contenders.

But Toure didn’t just improve City – City improved Toure.

A look at his statistics before joining the club shows goals record of six strikes in 118 Barcelona appearances, five in 30 for Monaco, and 3 in 75 for first club KSV Beveren.

For City, Toure scored 79 goals in 316 games, with an extra 50 assists for good measure.

He might not have played as much as he would have liked in his final season, but Toure was always going to leave a huge hole in the City midfield.

In 2018/19, it could be argued that Bernardo Silva stepped up to the plate, providing some important goals and assists from central midfield as City won the domestic treble. With Toure gone, though, Pep Guardiola opted for a rotation system in midfield with Kevin de Bruyne in and out of the side due to injury, Ilkay Gundogan and David Silva. It wasn’t just Bernardo providing the firepower from midfield.

This season, though, De Bruyne is the one who has taken the responsibility himself, peaking in a masterclass in Madrid in the Champions League.

Much has been written about de Bruyne’s brilliance this season, but he is finally becoming the midfield talisman that Toure was. And just like Toure, De Bruyne’s output in front of goal has been more prolific at City than at any of his previous clubs – even if he prefers to split a defence with a pinpoint pass when Toure would power into space directly.

Without De Bruyne’s goals and assists this season, City would be 11 points worse off in the Premier League and they would be 1-0 down to Real Madrid going into the Champions League last-16 second leg. He has helped City through the season just as Toure did so many times.

The only thing missing from De Bruyne’s game is a list of iconic moments as impressive as Toure’s. Now, he needs to take more big games and single-handedly turn them in City’s favour to win more trophies.

What is certain though, is he is as important to City now as Toure was then.

Source:- allfootballapp