Yaya Touré: "Without Barça, I wouldn't be the player I am today"

Yaya Touré, Manchester City's Ivorian midfielder, assured that if he had not spent several years at FC Barcelona he would never have reached his current level, which has earned him a place on the list of 23 nominees for the FIFA Ballon d'Or.
"When I left Monaco for Barça I developed an awful lot in three years", stated the 29-year-old midfielder in an interview published in the newspaper 'L'Equipe', in which he confessed: "Without Barça, I wouldn't be the player I am today".
Touré admitted that he was "lucky to come across a great coach like Frank Rijkaard", who helped him to progress. "For three and a half months, while the rest of the players were playing internationals, he made me work on tactics because I was a little sloppy. He showed me videos and gave me tactical training to improve", he revealed.
The Ivory Coast international stated that being surrounded by players of the likes of Edmilson, Deco, Iniesta and Xavi also helped him improve as a player. "I made progress just watching them", added Touré.
Yaya Touré also features on the list of candidates for this year's African Footballer of the Year, and is one of the big favourites to win the award along with his fellow countryman Didier Drogba and the Cameroonian Alex Song.