Yaya Toure's decision to join centre-half Kolo at the club meant they became the first brothers to play for City since Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips. Standing at 6ft 2in, the 27-year-old was a popular figure among Barca fans and had attracted interest from a number of top clubs in the Premier League and around Europe.

Yaya, one of three footballing brothers, began his career as a youth with Ivorian side ASEC Mimosas in 1996 before he moved to Beveren aged 18 in 2001, spending two full seasons with the Belgian side before joining Ukrainian side Metalurg Donetsk in 2003.After further spells with Olympiakos and Monaco enhanced his reputation yet further, Yaya became the first Ivorian to be signed by Barcelona who paid around £9m for his services in 2007.

In 2009, he won the Champions League with the Catalans as an emergency centre-half and he celebrated his second successive La Liga title with Barca last May before jetting off to South Africa – his second World Cup having been part of the 2006 squad in Germany.Leaving the Nou Camp was no easy decision, even to join a club such as City, but Toure packed a Champions League medal and FIFA Club World Cup medal (2009). He also won La Liga twice (2008-9, 2009-10), the UEFA Super Cup (2009), and the Copa del Rey (2008-9).

After 118 appearances with the Spanish giants and almost 300 career appearances to date, City have signed one of the best midfielders in the world. Yaya wore the No.24 shirt for Barca in honour of one of his boyhood idols, Patrick Vieira, but happily decided to wear 42 at City given that his preferred number was already occupied by his hero!

He kept the 42 shirt going into the 2011/12 season but the man who scored the winning goals in the 2010/11 FA Cup semi-final and final lost nothing of his happy knack for making key contributions at crucial moments, coming up with a brace against Newcastle in City's penultimate game of the season to put Mancini's men within touching distance of the league crown.