Kolo Toure has officially been announced as a coach for the Ivory Coast national team.

The former Liverpool and Arsenal defender has been named as one of the Ivory Coast’s coaches after retiring from playing internationally in 2015. He made a total of 120 appearances for his country and scored seven goals.

Toure already has his UEFA B coaching license and is expected to take up an assistant coaching role over Ivory Coast’s Olympic and ‘A’ teams under Ibrahim Kamara in order to earn his A license.

The 36-year-old continued to play club football until this year after leaving Liverpool in 2016 and signing a one-year deal under Brendan Rodgers at Celtic, where he won the treble.

Toure played for Arsenal between 2002 – 2009, and was one of the Gunners’ Invincibles. He made 225 appearances during his seven years in north London, even scoring nine goals.

He even featured for the Arsenal Legends against Milan Glorie at the Emirates last year as part of a fundraiser for the Arsenal Foundation.

Kolo joined his younger brother, Yaya, at Manchester City in 2009 but failed the replicate the success he’d had at Arsenal.

Coaching appears to be a natural progression for players these days and considering Toure played for the Ivory Coast national team from the age of 19, this is probably a brilliant opportunity for him to return to his roots while doing something he loves.

The Ivory Coast face Gabon in a World Cup Qualifier on 28 August.