Touré Yaya was presented this lunchtime as Barça’s latest signing. Touré surprised everybody with a change of name, the number 17 shirt that he will play in for the next four seasons will bear the name Touré Yaya. The ex-Monaco midfielder will miss a month of the season in January when he goes to play in the African Nations Cup along with Samuel Eto’o.
Touré stands out for his physique, at 188cm tall and weighing 78kg he should add some bite and stability to Barcelona’s midfield. The 24-year-old said that signing for Barça was “a dream come true.” Txiki Begiristain hinted that Thiago Motta would be leaving the club because the defensive midfield role is now well covered.
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joan amenos // Aug 31, 2007 at 15:47
“A DREAM COME TRUE”. SOME INFORMATIONS ABOUT ASEC MIMOSAS, THE FIRST TEAM OF TOURÉ.
Touré joined ASEC Mimosas youth academy in 1996. What about with this African team? It’s a very interesting history.
The Académie Sportive des Employés de Commerce (ASEC) Mimosas is an Ivorian football club. The club was founded in 1948 by eight businessmen from Abidjan. As well as being known as “ASEC Mimosas”, they are also referred to by the names “ASEC Mimosas Abidjan” and “ASEC Abidjan”, especially in international club competitions.
ASEC has a youth academy that has been described as the crown jewel of African football. This academy was started by Jean-Marc Guillou in 1993 at ASEC’s training complex. The student-athletes are given an education, for which they take classes in math, history, geography, physics, French, English and Spanish. The students live in dorms during the week and have two training sessions a day. The motto of ASEC is “Children enjoy…and win”.
The list of alumni of the ASEC Academy is impressive. It includes: Kolo Touré, Aruna Dindane, Salomon Kalou, Didier Zokora, Yaya Touré, Emmanuel Eboué, and Gilles Yapi.
ASEC provided the backbone of the national team for many years. This academy sends many of its graduates to play for KSK Beveren in the Belgian League. Once at Beveren, the Ivorians showcase their talents and move on to bigger clubs in Europe. But I have read in the official web of ASEC that there are some legal problems with KSK Beveren. They are the friends of yesterday, but the enemies of today. There are different trials in civil courts of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and England. Some courts have decided to block accounts of ASEC in Europe. So, ASEC linked up with Charlton Athletic on 1 May 2006, meaning Charlton may benefit from ASEC academy in future.
Last news: Arouna Koné , last signing of Sevilla, is a different case, in contrast to many successful Ivorian footballers, who are products of the youth system at capital city club ASEC. His brother Bakari started his successful way in ASEC. But Arouna Koné preferred to work in the club “Rio Sport d’Ányama”.
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