Yaya Toure ©Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
by [Staff Reporter](javascript:void(0))
Thursday Oct 30, 2025. 15:00
Former Manchester City and Côte d’Ivoire midfielder Yaya Touré narrowly missed out being inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame.
The league announced on Wednesday that former Chelsea winger Eden Hazard and Manchester United right-back Gary Neville would be the two inductees for the year of 2025.
Despite previous years having more inductees, this year only two new members were added to the prestigious club from a shortlist of 15, which included Touré.
Explaining how the inductees are chosen, the Premier League website states, “A shortlist of 15 nominees was announced on Premier League digital channels in September. Fans around the world voted for two former Premier League players to join the Hall of Fame, in collaboration with the previously inducted members of the Premier League Hall of Fame members.”
Players must meet certain criteria to be included in the shortlist, with the biggest of which being a minimum of 250 Premier League appearances unless the player has made 200 or more Premier League appearances for one club, been selected in any of the Premier League Team of the Decade or 20-Year Anniversary teams, won a Premier League Golden Boot or Golden Glove or been crowned Player of the Season, won three Premier League titles or scored 100 Premier League goals or recorded 100 Premier League clean sheets if he was a goalkeeper.
The Ivorian midfield maestro certainly ticks all the boxes, boasting 230 Premier League appearances for Manchester City, three Premier League titles and 94 goal contributions. He was also placed in the PFA Team of the Year in the 2011/12 and 2013/14 seasons.
Touré made the move to Manchester in July 2010 from Barcelona, where he had been a key part of the club’s success and proved to be equally important for his new club. He left City at the start of 2018/19 season after nine seasons as a Citizen.
During his tenure at City, Toure attempted 15,745 passes and completed 13,995.
He is one of only two central midfielders in the league’s history to score 20 goals in a single Premier League campaign, alongside Frank Lampard, which he achieved in the 2013/14 season as well as his second league title.
By Nic Gleeson