Toure finds ‘new home’ at Orient
Leyton Orient would like to sign Champions League winner Yaya Toure after the former Manchester City player asked to train with the League Two club while deciding who to join next season.
Orient admit the chances of persuading the 37-year-old to resume his career so far down the football ladder are slim, but have been encouraged by Toure’s willingness to keep an open mind.
Toure, who has also won three Premier League titles, is expected to spend the next couple of weeks with Orient before moving on to a higher-profile club abroad once he has worked on his fitness.
Toure, who has not played in England since leaving City in 2018, has been living in London since his contract with Chinese club Qingdao Huanghai expired last October, and his agents contacted Orient about training with the club.
Orient’s players returned to training on Monday, having not played since the League Two season was ended at the start of March.
There was some excitement among Orient supporters when the club tweeted pictures of Toure in Orient training kit, but the former Ivory Coast international said: “I just want to enjoy it until the last minute because football, for me, is everything. I’ve been outside footbut ball for months since the lockdown and I missed it. Everybody has been fantastic at Leyton Orient and welcomed me here and I feel like I’m at home.”
In May, Harry Kane stepped in to help Orient, the club he scored his first professional goal for, by sponsoring their 2020-21 home shirts with a message of thanks to “frontline heroes” to raise money for the local NHS trust, while the second and third shirts will provide funds for the Haven House and Mind charities respectively.
No figures for the value of the sponsorship were released, but it is thought that shirt deals in League Two are generally worth between £50,000 and £100,000 to clubs.
Kane spent six months on loan from Tottenham at Orient in 2011.