Yaya Toure has taken his first head coaching job, and toure is now in charge at Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava. The 43-year-old left his role as assistant coach with the Saudi Arabia men’s national team to make the move.
The appointment sends him into a club fresh off its 24th Slovak First Football League title last season. It also gives Slovan a new lead coach after Vladimir Weiss, with Toure stepping into a side that went through the Champions League league phase in 2024-25.
Slovan Bratislava Turns to Toure
Toure arrives with a short but varied coaching trail behind him. He spent four months with Ukrainian Olimpik Donetsk in his first assistant role, began coaching Tottenham Hotspur’s under-16s in August 2022, took an assistant job at Standard Liege in 2023 and then joined Roberto Mancini’s staff in Saudi Arabia in October 2023.
That path matters because this is his first chance to run a senior team on his own. He said after the appointment, “I’m very happy and excited, honestly, I can’t wait for us to get to work together on Monday.”
From Assistant Roles To Bratislava
His message to Slovan was clear about the step he wanted. “As an assistant, I had the opportunity to work with Robert Mancini, for example, but I’ve longed for a long time to be able to work on my own project as a head coach,” he said.
He also pointed to Weiss, calling him “a former City team-mate” and saying, “My predecessor (Vladimir Weiss, a former City team-mate) deserves great respect for what he’s achieved with Slovan. I want to build on that while also bringing something new and unique of my own. Soccer is everything to me. I love challenges and am incredibly excited to coach a great club with a rich history, a beautiful stadium, and high ambitions.”
City And Barcelona Legacy
Before coaching, Toure built a playing resume that will shape the expectation around him in Bratislava. He spent eight seasons with Manchester City from 2010 to 2018, winning three Premier League titles, two League Cups and one FA Cup.
He also played for Barcelona from 2007 to 2010, winning La Liga three times and the Champions League in 2009. Toure ended his playing career after leaving Chinese side Qingdao at the start of 2020, and this appointment pushes him into the top job after years spent learning in academy and assistant roles.
Slovan’s recent Champions League run shows the size of the task. The club lost all eight league phase games in the 2024-25 campaign and finished 35th of 36, so Toure takes over a title winner that still has work to do when Europe comes around again.
