I almost forgot what it was like to be beaten in a game of football

IT started and concluded at Highbury with victories by the odd goal in three against Everton and Leicester respectively.

In the nine months bookended by those encounters, the best in the land all had a free swing at Arsenal. Try as they might, though, there was just no flooring the men from North London.

Not since Preston had gone through the card unbeaten in 1889 had the top flight of English football seen the like. Few would expect to witness it again.

‘I can say that it was the pinnacle of my career,’ said Kolo Toure yesterday, a key member of Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ of 2003-04.

‘It was unbelievable. I got to the point where I was calling a friend of mine who played for another club and I asked him: “How does it feel when you lose a game?”. I had forgotten how it felt!

‘We were winning every game, it was something special. You don’t get that all the time, obviously, so it was really special.

‘For me, it was a privilege to be part of that team. I thank God every day for that.’

A dozen years may have passed since that historic feat, but time has not diminished the part played by the man who would go on to win 118 international caps.

Some 21 outfield players were utilised over the 38 games by Gunners manager Arsene Wenger. Yet only Thierry Henry, with 37 appearances, featured more than the Ivorian (36).

Not bad going for a player who’d only arrived from ASEC Mimosas of his homeland a year previously to compete with the likes of Martin Keown and Sol Campbell.

‘I learned that from those guys — Martin, Sol, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry,’ added Toure.

‘I was part of that environment and that’s why we did so well.

‘I was in the team and Martin wasn’t playing, but he gave me advice all the time. I have kept that mentality ever since.

‘It wasn’t about the competition for places between us, it was about helping each other achieve success together. Together, we were strong and we helped each other to get better.’

Toure’s CV is nothing short of remarkable. A Premier League title with both Arsenal and Manchester City. Three FA Cups and three Community Shields. Champions League and Europa League runnersup medals. Three World Cups and seven African Nations Cups, the latter of which the Ivory Coast won in 2015.

And yet, for all the world, he sat inside Celtic Park yesterday emitting the excitement of a child on Christmas morning.

‘I am looking forward to it, definitely, because the story of this club is massive,’ he added. ‘I have been at other clubs that have a story as well. I am used to that and I really want to enjoy this time.’

His signing is much in keeping with the calibre of acquisitions that were expected when Brendan Rodgers was named as Ronny Deila’s successor last month.

Having played under the Northern Irishman at Anfield for the past three seasons, the decision to reunite in Glasgow for the foreseeable future was not hard to arrive at.

‘Brendan is here as well and that made things much easier,’ said Toure. ‘He is a top manager. He is somebody that I have worked with and had a great time with at Liverpool. We nearly won the league and everybody in the UK knows he is a top manager and when somebody calls like that, you are just so pleased.

‘I love to work with him because he is a nice guy, he is intelligent, very experienced and very organised.

‘There is always a chance to stay there (in England) but for me to join a club like this and with a manager who has been good to me was important. I also want to see something else as well.

‘I have been in the UK for 14 years and to come to another country and play in another league was important. It is great because there is no massive change — my family will still enjoy it here because it is English-speaking and that was important.’

Whatever Scottish football’s shortcomings may be, the prospect of Champions League football remains a trump card.

ToURE may have been Liverpool’s best player as they lost the Europa League Final 3-1 to Sevilla in May, but none of his potential suitors after his release were in a position to offer him the prospect of a return to the more coveted competition.

‘The Champions League, what more can you ask?’ he smiled. ‘If you have the chance to play in the Champions League with a club like Celtic, you just enjoy that.

‘I am preparing myself to be ready for that. I want to be available for the manager — that’s the first thing. Any time he calls me, I want to be ready to help the team. That is why I am here — to help the team get better outside the pitch and inside the pitch.’

For one whose career has been so decorated, Toure’s talk of helping the greater good and improving young players yesterday is striking. Not just, you suspect, the kind of empty rhetoric that’s so often trumped out on such occasions.

‘I want to help the young players to help themselves as well, to give them advice, just try to play a role at this club,’ he explained.

‘Any way I can help, I will be ready for that because of my experience. It is not easy for young players sometimes. When they have the chance to speak to a guy who has had a long career, it can help them to improve and to try to avoid things that I done. They can avoid doing the same mistake.’

Even at 35, he appreciates that he’s not yet beyond the point of learning the odd lesson either.

Barcelona — who Celtic face in Dublin on Saturday — are always liable to teach even an old dog a new trick or two. Even in a friendly environment, Toure is aware how taxing the test of facing a former Anfield team-mate may prove to be.

‘What a debut — playing against Luis (Suarez)!’ he smiled. ‘It’s going to be great for my fitness, because we will have to work hard against a top team.

‘I like to play in games like that. I’m looking forward to it. It will be nice to see Luis again, but I hope he doesn’t play!

‘No, of course, I’ll be really happy to see him and to play against him.

‘He is a top striker. He is very aggressive in front of goal. That will prepare me really well for the season.’

There will be little scope for easing his way in. The return leg against Astana might well be the most demanding of competitive debuts with a visit to Tynecastle in the league opener coming hard on its heels.

And even for one as experienced as Toure, the small matter of Rangers at Celtic Park — on September 10 — is assuredly one to get the blood pumping.

‘I am looking forward to it,’ he went on. ‘I have played in a few big derbies in the Premier League, but this one is really special.

‘I’ve watched it on TV and it is really amazing. I will make sure I’m prepared for it. When I watched it, I just thought: “Wow!”. It was unbelievable. Even just watching on TV, you can feel it.

‘So if I’m able to get on the pitch and feel it, it is going to be massive for me.’