Former Manchester City star to join Pep Guardiola’s backroom coaching staff | OneFootball

Manchester City are set to welcome former central defensive star Kolo Toure into their first-team coaching structure alongside Pep Guardiola for the FIFA Club World Cup.

It is the latest addition into the first-team coaching structure at the Etihad Stadium following a triple exit from Guardiola’s dugout upon the conclusion of the recently-concluded 2024/25 campaign.

Juanma Lillo and Inigo Dominguez were permitted to leave the club upon the expiry of their respective contracts, with the former expressing a desire to return to his native home of Spain, while Carlos Vicens opted against extending his stay to become the new head coach at Braga.

As part of the rebuild of the set-up, Manchester City have announced Pepijn Lijnders as an arrival as assistant coach to Pep Guardiola following his notable spells alongside Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, while James French leaves Anfield to become set-piece coach.

Now, in a further addition ahead of Manchester City’s flight to the United States for the start of the new-look FIFA Club World Cup and three initial group stage games, a familiar face has been called-up for first-team duties.

That is according to the information of MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, who reports that Kolo Toure is set to join Manchester City’s backroom staff for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup tournament this summer.

The former Etihad Stadium central defender, and now a coach with the club’s Under-18 team under Oliver Reiss, is expected to jet off to the United States with Pep Guardiola’s squad on Thursday alongside his other new members of the team in Lijnders and French.

It is explained that Toure is popular among players within the City Football Academy, while it is not yet known if his promotion into Pep Guardiola’s coaching structure will become permanent.

The Ivory Coast international is also expected to be part of a new-look Manchester City first-team as a whole, both in terms of the coaching staff and the playing personnel at the disposal of those in management positions.

The club have already confirmed the arrival of Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves and Marcus Bettinelli as a new third-choice goalkeeper from Chelsea, while agreements are in place for AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders and Lyon’s Rayan Cherki.

Both of the latter pairing have undergone successful medicals at Manchester City early this week and have also penned their respective contractual agreements, keeping them in sky blue and white until the summer of 2030.