Ivorian legend, Yaya Toure, who was voted African Footballer of the Year in 2013, believes Nigeria’s Mikel Obi deserved to win it that year.

Touré won the third of his four CAF African Footballer of the Year awards in 2013 beating Obi to the crown. 

This is after Obi had led Nigeria to their third AFCON triumph, eliminating Toure’s Côte d’Ivoire in the process. 

In an appearance on Mikel Obi’s podcast, The Obi One podcast, Toure opened up on why he felt the former Chelsea midfielder should’ve beaten him to the award.

“You deserved it, to be honest,” he told Obi.

“Nigeria won the AFCON and you were instrumental in that.

“If it came to you, I’d have been okay because you deserved it,” he added.

Toure is the only player to win the award four years in a row. 

He shared the record for the most wins with Samuel Eto'o, but Touré is the only player to win it four consecutive times.