When fans and pundits alike hark back to the most dominant midfielders in Premier League history, two names that are perhaps unanimously mentioned include Yaya Toure and Steven Gerrard.
So much so that Jack Grealish named Yaya Toure as one of his toughest opponents and claimed that in the 2013/2014 season in particular when the Ivorian was at the peak of his powers, he was truly unplayable.
The Manchester City legend made English football his playground for most of his spell at the Etihad Stadium — possessing a blend of impeccable technique and physical dominance that perhaps only Steven Gerrard, Kevin De Bruyne and Patrick Vieira had in their respective lockers.
As Rio Ferdinand recently interviewed Yaya Toure, Gerrard sent him a message on Instagram about playing against him.
- READ MORE: Yaya Toure names the four players he actually told Man City to sign when he was at the club
Steven Gerrard recently told Rio Ferdinand how tough Yaya Toure was to play against
Steven Gerrard told Ferdinand that Yaya Toure was incredibly difficult to come up against every time Liverpool and Manchester City went toe-to-toe with each other.
However, Gerrard did emphasise to Ferdinand that as outstanding as Toure was, it was perhaps even harder for him to tame the three-time Premier League winner due to being at the latter end of his career.
Rio Ferdinand revealed on his official podcast: “It’s crazy, I won’t show you them but Steven Gerrard saw the Yaya interview and DM’d me on Instagram the other day talking about, ‘Nah, Yaya was the real deal.’
“He said, ‘Nah, nah, nah, Yaya was a different type of problem than we’ve ever seen. He did add a layer to that, [emphasising] especially at the stage of my career. Because I think prime time Stevie in his own head would be going, no one can’t do that to me.”
What was Yaya Toure’s record vs Steven Gerrard in the Premier League?
Premier League fans worldwide would miss the days when elite midfielders like Steven Gerrard and Yaya Toure locked horns and world-class centre-backs like Rio Ferdinand were still playing.
Even former Manchester United dynamo Scott McTominay used to idolise Yaya Toure — which speaks volumes of his impact in the Premier League.
While Yaya Toure believes Kolo Toure was better than him, the humble maestro was a truly sensational player — winning three while losing one game apiece in five matches against Gerrard in the league.
In these meetings, the former Barcelona star scored two goals as well — which explains why Steven Gerrard did not enjoy playing against him.
