Emmanuel Adebayor
Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor (French pronunciation: [ɛmanɥɛl adəbɛjɔʁ]; born 26 February 1984) is a Togolese former professional footballer who played as a striker. During his career, he played for English clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace, as well as French side Metz, Monégasque team Monaco, Spanish team Real Madrid, Turkish clubs İstanbul Başakşehir and Kayserispor, Paraguay's Club Olimpia and Togolese club Semassi.
|
Adebayor warming-up with Man City in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor | ||
| Date of birth | 26 February 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Lomé, Togo | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–1999 | OC Agaza | ||
| 1999–2001 | Metz | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2003 | Metz | 44 | (15) |
| 2003–2006 | Monaco | 78 | (18) |
| 2006–2009 | Arsenal | 104 | (46) |
| 2009–2012 | Manchester City | 34 | (15) |
| 2011 | → Real Madrid (loan) | 14 | (5) |
| 2011–2012 | → Tottenham Hotspur (loan) | 33 | (17) |
| 2012–2015 | Tottenham Hotspur | 59 | (18) |
| 2016 | Crystal Palace | 12 | (1) |
| 2017–2019 | İstanbul Başakşehir | 60 | (24) |
| 2019 | Kayserispor | 8 | (2) |
| 2020 | Olimpia | 2 | (0) |
| 2021–2023 | Semassi | ||
| Total | 448 | (162) | |
| International career | |||
| 2000–2019 | Togo | 87 | (32) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2008 while playing at Arsenal, and during his latter career, when he joined Olimpia Asunción in 2020, he became the highest paid player in Paraguay.
Adebayor represented the Togo national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the country's debut, and to date only, appearance at the World Cup. In January 2010, Adebayor was one of the players involved when the Togo team's bus came under gunfire on the way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, after which he retired from national team duty. In 2013, he returned to the Togo team for the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa, where he helped them to qualify for the quarter-finals. He is Togo's all-time top goalscorer with 32 goals.