While Patrick Vieira was well and truly a unique midfielder, the player who is widely considered as the second coming of the French legend is former Manchester City stalwart Yaya Toure.
The pair are often compared to each other with Morgan Gibbs-White claiming Toure was better than Vieira.
However, others would perhaps pick the former Arsenal captain over the Ivorian great.
Luckily, City fans had the chance to watch Patrick Vieira and Yaya Toure in the same side during the 2010/2011 season.
Patrick Vieira praises Yaya Toure’s impact on Man City
However, Vieira had the chance to play alongside Toure and watch the three-time Premier League champion up close.
Yves Bissouma idolises Toure as do several players around the world but at the time, the Champions League winner had plenty to prove in a City shirt.
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However, Patrick Vieira lauded Yaya Toure’s leadership and mentality after reflecting on his time playing with the retired midfielder, telling Manchester City’s official magazine: “Yaya was the engine of the team. Not just because of his quality and physicality, the power that he could bring but also the mental impact he could have on the team as well because when Yaya was good, the team was good.”
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“When Yaya was playing well, the team was playing well and Yaya was one of the leaders – if not the leader of the team. He was the leader on the field. He may not have been vocal outside of the pitch but on the field, he was the leader of that generation.”
Yaya Toure stats compared to Patrick Vieira
The four-time African Footballer of the Year is widely remembered for how unstoppable he was in his prime, with Cody Gakpo hailing Yaya Toure for how outstanding he was in the 2013/2014 season in particular as he went on to become a legend of the game.
Judging by the stats, Toure has the edge on Patrick Vieira as a player.
ALL-TIME STATS YAYA TOURE PATRICK VIEIRA
APPEARANCES 718 757
GOALS 123 62
ASSISTS 87 86
Yaya Toure had more goals and assists (123 and 87) than Patrick Vieira despite playing 39 games fewer than the World Cup winner.
However, both players were undeniably world-class and in fairness to the Genoa boss, he was much more of a defensive-minded player than his former teammate.