Is Kolo Toure Really a Step Forward for Liverpool?

If reports on the BBC of late are to be believed, then Brendan Rodgers’ first signing when the summer transfer window finally reopens for business will be experienced Manchester City defender Kolo Toure.

The Northern Irishman has made it a priority to recruit two new centre backs in the close season, one a like-for-like replacement in terms of profile for the now retired Jamie Carragher and the other an up-and-coming youngster for the future.

Numerous names have recently been bandied around in the latter category, with the likes of Schalke 04's Greek international Kyriakos Papadopoulos, say the BBC, and Ajax captain Toby Alderweireld, according to the Guardian, both believed to be currently under consideration.

However, it was the name of City’s Ivory Coast international in the former category that has caused quite a stir on Merseyside, with many viewing his potential acquisition as a backwards step for the club.

Rodgers, though, has already made it perfectly clear exactly what sort of player he is looking to bring to Anfield this summer, stating as far back as March in The Telegraph that:

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There is no doubt there is a natural rebuilding that will come with the likes of [Jamie] Carragher retiring. I am happy with the squad if I can then put another three or four quality players to it. It is quality we are after, not quantity.

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When it comes to the near-impossible task of finding a successor to the man who featured in 737 games in a glittering and trophy-laden, 17-year career for the Reds, then Rodgers will be looking at a very specific new recruit.

In fact, the type of player that the Liverpool manager lamented his team were missing during their 2-1 loss at archrivals Manchester United in the Premier League in January, when he observed post match that in Carragher’s absence: “We needed his leadership. We are a quiet team and he is a great organiser and manages the game well."

Do not forget either that there remains the very distinct possibility that come the start of next season, a whole chunk of top-level experience at the back may very well have exited Anfield in the shape of both Jose Manuel Reina, say Goal.com, and Martin Skrtel, according to the Guardian.

All of which has led Rodgers to City’s unwanted utility player Toure, who is out of contract at Eastlands on June 30 and would be available on a free transfer, an important fact when one remembers that the Reds boss only has a transfer budget of £20 million at his disposal this summer, according to The Telegraph.

And so, if Rodgers can land one of his four principal, close-season targets without having to eat into his already sparse funds, then that must weigh heavily in any recruitment discussions taking place between him and his scouting team.

However, ultimately what will be mainly interesting Rodgers is the player’s profile, rather than his cost, and in this regard, you can see why Toure may seem like an attractive addition to the Liverpool squad.

For one thing, the Ivorian is the right age at 32 to be filling Carragher’s shoes and would explain why Liverpool’s American owners, the Fenway Sports Group, are willing to break their rule for the very first time since buying the club three years ago of not purchasing any players over the age of 24.

Needs must be met, and Liverpool are going to badly need both leadership and experience in abundance at the back next season—who better than a defender with 103 caps to his name in a 13-year international career to take on this role?

Meanwhile, Toure would also bring with him to Anfield key top-flight experience having played in 225 league games for Arsenal between 2002 and 2009 and then in a further 82 Premier League matches for City following his £16 million transfer to the North West in July 2009.

During those two spells in England, Toure won Premier League titles at both clubs in 2004 and 2012, as well as two more FA Cups in 2005 and 2011, while he was also given the captain’s armband by each of his two managers at the Emirates and Eastlands, Arsene Wenger and Mark Hughes respectively—as well as by the Elephants.

Consequently, Rodgers would be getting a highly experienced, top-level player who can operate at either centre back, right back or as a defensive midfielder for free, and those who saw Toure during his seven years in north London should be greatly excited by that prospect.

In fact, it could be argued that the always-smiling Ivorian was one of the best defenders in the Premier League during his first three seasons with the Gunners, while on the continent he was also part of an Arsenal back line that kept a record-breaking 10 clean sheets in a row en route to the final of the 2006 UEFA Champions League.

Now the challenge for Rodgers and Co. will be to try and extract that kind of form once again from the player, as ever since Toure was suspended for six months in March 2011 by the World Anti-Doping Agency for failing a drug test, he has basically been a persona non grata under Mancini at Eastlands.

That must be the only real worry for Rodgers as he contemplates making an official move for Toure when he returns from City’s postseason tour to the United States: Can the defender at 32, and with surely only another three years maximum left at the very top level, ever recapture the eye-catching form that he displayed when he first arrived as a total unknown in the capital from ASEC Mimosas in February 2002?

Well, it looks as though Rodgers is willing to take that risk and give Toure the chance to prove his doubters wrong at Anfield next season.