Fitness the key to Toure’s City renaissance, claims Henry

Many expected Yaya Toure’s Manchester City career to be over when Pep Guardiola arrived at the Etihad last summer, but Thierry Henry says the powerful midfielder is still key to the Citizens.

Guardiola has dispensed with Toure’s services when in charge at Barcelona, and after a public spat between the player’s agent and the Spaniard, the Ivorian seemed to be headed for the exit door in January.

However, a double against Crystal Palace and a series of commanding performances since being brought back into the City fold have left observers purring.

Henry watched on as the 33-year-old opened the scoring from the penalty spot in City’s 3-0 win over Hull City, on Boxing Day, and said Toure’s improved fitness is showing in his performances.

“In all fairness, it looked like it was over for him at one point at Man City,” said Arsenal’s all-time record goalscorer – a teammate of Toure at Barcelona.

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“It shows that when you work to get back on track, whether you are Yaya Toure or whoever, you can have the chance to play again.

“He is playing, he deserves it and he backed up his performance against Arsenal.

“We saw a vintage Toure in a certain way. Maybe not with his usual runs that he used to make, but now, because Yaya is a clever player with a technical ability to play quickly, he can play football for a very long time. You have to be fit for that.

“One thing I liked about the game at Hull was how many times he stopped a counter-attack. That means he was in the right place.”