Wigan Athletic have announced the appointment of former Arsenal and Liverpool defender Kolo Toure as their new head coach on a three-and-half-year contract.
Tuesday’s appointment makes the 41-year-old Ivorian the first African international to manage in senior English football.
Toure joined the Ivory Coast coaching staff for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in August 2017, and in September of that same year, he was hired by Celtic as a technical assistant.
Following Brendan Rodgers’ appointment as Leicester City’s manager in 2019, the former Liverpool defender transferred to the English Premier League where he has been serving as the Foxes’ first-team coach since February 2019.
The ex-Ivory Coast international will be joined by assistant Rob Kelly, while Ashvir Johal and Kevin Betsy will both join as members of the coaching staff at Wigan.
Following an eight-game losing streak, Wigan fired Leam Richardson as manager earlier this month, only two weeks after awarding the Englishman a new three-year deal.
Wigan had lost six of their previous seven league games under Leam Richardson, and they presently occupy the 22nd position in the Championship table.
Toure is expected to link up with his new players and coaching staff at their mid-season training camp in Turkey, before the resumption of the Championship season against Millwall on December 10.
