Celtic have completed the signing of Kolo Touré in a move that reunites the defender with his former manager at Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers. The 35-year-old joins on a one-year contract.
Rodgers signed Touré for Liverpool in 2013 following the Ivory Coast player’s spells at Manchester City and Arsenal. After making him an early recruit in his Celtic reign, Rodgers predicted Touré would thrive in Scotland and be a big asset to the club.
“I brought Kolo into Liverpool to add that bit of experience and help to the centre-halves there at the time. You saw from his impact there and in particular last season, he was a very important player for Jürgen Klopp towards the end of last season, playing in the Europa League final,” said Rodgers. “He was outstanding in the big games for me when I was there. He looks after himself, he’s a wonderful professional and he has good experience.”
Rodgers, speaking to the club’s website, added: “With a lot of young players in our squad, he can really help them and he can be of great assistance for the likes of Scott Brown, who is a wonderful leader. But he needs support and help around him as well. It will be nice for Scotty to have someone behind him who has that real big-game experience. Kolo can do very well for us.”
