Yaya was eager to join his brother Kolo at Arsenal, who had previously secured his own contract the previous year after a successful trial. Former manager Arsene Wenger had given Toure a six-month trial with the Gunners in 2003 and had impressed the French head coach before issues arose.
Talks were halted due to Toure not having a European passport, which was needed to play in England. The midfielder went on to play for Ukrainian outfit Metalurh Donetsk, followed by spells at Olympiacos and Monaco, before making a major move to Barcelona in 2007. He spoke about his close move to North London in what could have been a powerhouse midfield alongside legendary player Patrick Vieira.
"Yeah, no, because in the beginning, I think the problem was the paperwork because at that time, when I remember, it was... You have to play 75% in the national team if you don't have the passport, European passport, or you have to have a European passport to play in England and that was the path," he explained to Ferdinand regarding why Wenger didn't secure his signature.
"Arsene was willing to let me go back to Belgium to carry on for, I think, one more year or two years to get the Belgian passport because at that time, I was not playing in the national team, A team."
He expressed his frustration on the failed move as he agreed on a subsequent move to Ukraine before later on his career returning to the Premier League where he became a club legend with Manchester City.
"And in my mind, I was like, it's time for me to go abroad, test myself and try something different," he explained.
"And it was from that period, I've been sold to Ukraine. And that's when I started to get a bit frustrated because for me, it was a bit of a fail because I didn't make it, but in the end, it was that difficult because my mind was divided. I didn't want to get a passport. To get it, I wanted to be able as well to play for my national team.