Toure was restored to the Manchester City side by boss Pep Guardiola at Crystal Palace last month and he marked his recall with a match-winning brace.
Before his return, the Ivorian’s main contribution to City’s season had been as the subject of a spat between the manager and his own agent, Dimitri Seluk.
For his part, Guardiola wanted the 33-year-old, whom he sold while manager of Barcelona but was pivotal to City’s two title wins, to lose weight and work harder without the ball.
Seluk claimed Guardiola’s actions, which included dropping Toure from City’s Champions League squad, had amounted to the “humiliation” of his client.
Toure took it upon himself to break the impasse and apologise to the club for any “misunderstandings” that had occurred – and now he is back loving life as the heartbeat of Guardiola’s team.
Toure said: “Am I loving my football again? To be honest, yes. I look like a kid, you know, just enjoying playing football and helping my team-mates and then the fans, which is very important.
“I’m used to winning Premier Leagues and I want to win another. I know it’s going to be tough but we have to keep going because Chelsea are very good this year.”
City will be boosted by the availability of leading scorer Sergio Aguero for the Liverpool match and Toure accepts his side can ill afford to drop any points if they are to overhaul Chelsea at the summit.
He said: “I think for me it’s almost a ‘final’ of the Premier League, because it’s going to be a similar kind of football. I think for the fans it’s going to be fantastic.”
City will head to Merseyside on the back of three straight wins and amid a growing belief that Guardiola is gradually coming to terms with the demands of the English game.
Since a humiliating 4-2 defeat at Leicester on December 10, City have not looked back and they now lie seven points behind leaders Chelsea.
Reflecting on his team’s recent renaissance and Guardiola’s impact, Toure said: “I don’t think he changed.
“The manager was very clever and tried to adapt his team to the opponent.
“We have quality players and can change to be defensive and in attack we have fantastic players who are going to make the difference.
“Against Hull we were very delighted. Kevin De Bruyne played very well, I think he deserved to be the best player, Raheem Sterling as well, even David Silva. The guys in front were brilliant to be honest.”
Toure was also delighted with the impact of substitute Kelechi Iheanacho, whose predatory finish sandwiched Toure’s opener and Curtis Davies’ late own-goal.
“When you’re young like that you have to show your hunger,” said Toure. “What I tell him all the time, even on the training ground, when you play like that you have to show up, and I think the Hull game was brilliant for him.
“It was a massive goal, the important second goal gives you a lift, lets you continue the game and made Hull attack and leave space, and the third goal came from that.”
City defender John Stones will be assessed ahead of the Liverpool trip after being replaced after just 18 minutes at Hull following a kick to the knee which led to swelling.
Meanwhile Kelechi Iheanacho is prepared to stay patient for a starting spot at City despite his record-breaking feats in front of goal.
The 20-year-old Nigerian’s minutes-per-goal ratio makes him the deadliest striker in Premier League history.
Iheanacho’s late goal in City’s 3-0 win over Hull on Boxing Day saw him top the special goalscoring charts, which only includes players who have scored a minimum of 10 goals.
With Aguero poised to return from a four-game ban for Saturday’s trip to title rivals Liverpool, Iheanacho could find himself further down the pecking order.
Yet he insisted: “We are happy to have Sergio back in the team, but I need patience to get my chance.
“Whoever the manager picks is going to play anyone he chooses. But our attacking players can play in so many different positions so he has plenty of choice.”
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