Kolo Toure has revealed that one of his main reasons for moving from Arsenal to Manchester City was the London club’s failure to splash the cash.
He’s also accused the club of relying too much on younger players and, as a result, lacking leadership.
Toure, who joined City for a reported fee of £16 million, was the last member of Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’, the squad which went unbeaten through the entire 2003/04 league season, to leave the Emirates.
Toure said:
When you look at Arsenal you see all the great players have left and are now in the past.
Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Ray Parlour have gone. We lost too many leaders at Arsenal.
Players like Henry, Vieira and Parlour that brought success to Arsenal and I believed it was right at this stage of my career to also move on.
When we were winning the league the spirit was fantastic, we were like a band of brothers.
The best teams are at the top only because they have the best players and to get those players you have to spend a lot of money.
You can’t be successful in football without money. This is the football business.
ALL HE SAID IS TRUE.