London, (SAT Sports) – Former Ivory Coast and Manchester City star Yaya Toure has secured his first coaching role by joining Ukraine’s Olimpik Donetsk as assistant coach.
The 37-year-old, who won three Premier League titles with Manchester City and the Champions League with Barcelona, has recently been working with English sides Queens Park Rangers and Blackburn Rovers to gain his coaching badges.
“It’s great to be back in the Ukraine to continue my coaching journey. Thank you to Olympic Donetsk for the wonderful welcome,” the four-time African footballer of the year wrote on Twitter.
Toure, whose playing career ended last year after he left Chinese club Qingdao Huanghai, spent two seasons as a player in Ukraine between 2003 and 2005 at the now defunct Metalurh Donetsk.
Olimpik Donetsk, who are seventh in the standings with 17 points from 12 games, face league leaders Dynamo Kyiv on Saturday.
Toure joined Donetsk on the same day as another former Premier League player also ventured into an assistant coaching role, with Tunisia’s Radhi Jaidi joining Belgian side Cercle Brugge until the end of the season.
“I am really looking forward to taking up this challenge and getting involved at Cercle,” the 45-year-old told the club’s website.
“I hope my experiences will help me achieve the ambitious objectives. I can’t wait to get started and get to know everyone in the organisation!”
According to the club: “Jaidi will be specifically involved in setting up individual training programmes for the players, as well as preparing the squad for the training sessions and matches on a daily basis.”
Jaidi played for Southampton between 2009 and 2012, whereupon he became assistant coach of the club’s Under-21 team before progressing to head coach of the Under-23s.
In 2019 after his stint at Southampton he moved to the American second division to coach Hartford Athletic.
