Wilmots Wants Toure Back In The Ivory Coast Team

Marc Wilmots has said his top priority as the new head coach of Ivory Coast is to get Yaya Toure back in the squad.

The former Belgium manager was confirmed as the new manager of the Elephants on Tuesday, with their AFCON group stage exit still fresh in their minds.

Ivory Coast went into the competition as defending champions, having won the tournament in 2015, with Toure captaining the side.

“I know how important it is to have experienced players. It’s not yet over for Toure, we’ve got to get him back,” Wilmots said.

“The Yaya Toure case will be one of my first missions.

“I’ve seen the last two games that he played for Manchester City in a defensive midfield position. He’s always great, he’s so good physically.


“I’ll go see him, I’ll talk with him.”

“I do not know much about the country, but I have a lot of information about the national team, and I was very interested in the national team,” he said.

“They have a very good generation of players. When the challenge was offered to me, I thought why not?”