Why electric Toure can be a game-changer for Newcastle

Amid a summer of upheaval at Newcastle United, the signing of Bazoumana Toure from Hoffenheim stands out. Adam Bate speaks to the man who brought the winger to Europe to find out why this is a player who could have a big impact on the Premier League...

Amid the doom and gloom at Newcastle United as familiar faces depart and the future looks uncertain, do not sleep on the signing of Bazoumana Toure. The Ivorian winger has the potential to be one of the most exciting Premier League arrivals this summer.

There were limited opportunities to show that at the World Cup. Toure started only one game. He was introduced in the 89th minute in Cote d'Ivoire's knockout defeat to Norway only after Erling Haaland had scored what turned out to be the winning goal.

But Newcastle acted on the evidence of his first full season with Hoffenheim, a wildly impressive campaign in which the club only missed out on Champions League qualification on the final day. The electrifying Toure was a standout performer in Germany.

Always an outlet on the left, he made more sprints than any other Bundesliga player last season, ranking among the top 10 fastest players in the competition. Toure was able to spring counter-attacks and get Hoffenheim up the pitch - a key part of their success.

He is tricky to stop. Werder Bremen's Yukinari Sugawara tried it by raking his studs down Toure's calf five minutes into the game on the penultimate weekend of the season. He was sent off and Toure went on to curl an effort high into the net to score the winner.

There were five goals in total in the Bundesliga last season, a modest run given his ability. Newcastle will expect more. But it is his creativity that makes him an attractive option. Toure's dribbling is his strength and there was end product with nine assists too.

His right foot has improved. There were goals with it against St.Pauli and Stuttgart, as well as a clever nutmegged pass to Fisnik Asllani for the equaliser on the opening weekend against Bayer Leverkusen. There are those who will tell you it was not always in the repertoire.

Indeed, Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg messaged him in April of last year to ask what was going on when he set up a goal with his right foot against Mainz. The pair had been together at Hammarby in Sweden, the club that offered Toure his opportunity in Europe.

While the use of his weaker foot might have shocked Hellberg, he has describe himself as "not the least bit surprised" by the player's success in Germany. Toure "put himself in the spotlight" in Sweden, noted Hoffenheim's sporting director Andreas Schicker.

It was Schicker's counterpart at Hammarby, Mikael Hjelmberg, who brought Toure to Europe. Speaking to Hjelmberg, he remains a little bit enamoured with the player he identified on a visit to Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire. Toure was only a boy then. But a special talent.

"I saw him the first time when he was 15 years old in Abidjan and I fell in love with him there and then," Hjelmberg tells Sky Sports .