Kolo Toure has become the first African to be appointed as the Coach of an English senior football club.
The Ivorian, 41, who had been working as first-team coach at Leicester since February 2019, held talks with the Championship side earlier this month and has now completed his move to the DW Stadium.
Toure worked under the likes of Arsene Wenger, Jurgen Klopp, and Roberto Mancini during a playing career that saw him represent Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City, but he has no previous management experience.
The 41-year-old replaces Leam Richardson after he was sacked by the Championship club earlier this month.
Toure’s first game in charge will be the trip to Millwall on 10 December.
“We are delighted that Kolo has become the new manager of Wigan Athletic Football Club, and the board are pleased that he is the man to take us forward,” chief executive Malachy Brannigan told the club website.
“We received a high calibre of applicants for the manager’s job in recent weeks, in a very thorough recruitment process as we looked to appoint the right person for the role.
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“From the earliest of conversations we had with Kolo, it was evident to us that he had instantly bought into the values of the club – with his enthusiasm, knowledge and immense desire to work and be part of Wigan Athletic shining throughout the process.”
Wigan sacked Richardson after getting only one point from seven Championship matches the recently signed coach fell out of favour by the management of the club and he was sacked indefinitely.
Toure was part of the Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ side which won the Premier League undefeated in 2003-04 and also won the title with Manchester City.
He ended his playing career with Scottish giants Celtic, helping them claim the Premiership title without losing a match in the 2016-17 season before retiring to join their coaching staff in September that year.
