Stephen Dunmoye
Former Arsenal, Manchester City striker, Emmanuel Adebayor has bowed out of football at the age of 39 after over two decades as a professional.
Adebayor spent over a decade in England playing for Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham and Crystal Palace but has now called time on his career.
In his announcement on Instagram, the short video included a clip of his infamous goal for City against former club Arsenal in 2009, arguably the most memorable of his career, as he followed it by running the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Arsenal fans.
Alongside the video, Adebayor posted the caption: ‘SEA, from the highs to the lows, my career as a professional athlete has been an incredible journey.
‘Thank you to my fans for being there every step of the way. I’m feeling so grateful for everything, and excited for what’s to come!’
Adebayor then wrote a message on a piece of paper that read: ‘Thanks for the blessings!!!’
The only two goals Adebayor included in his retirement video were from his time at City.
The forward did have some bright moments at his other clubs, though, winning the African Footballer of the Year award in 2008 during his time at Arsenal.
He was also named Togo’s Footballer of the Year for five consecutive years between 2005 and 2009, and the video did contain footage of him draped in his country’s national flag.
Adebayor was on the Togo team bus that was attacked by terrorists in 2010 as the team made their way to Angola for the tournament. Three people were killed and nine people were injured in the attack.
He scored 97 Premier League goals across spells for Spurs, Arsenal and Man City during his time in England.
Adebayor spent most of his peak years in England, but also enjoyed spells in France with Metz and Monaco at the start of his career and had a brief stint at Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2011.
After moving back to England following his time in Madrid, Adebayor had three years at Tottenham and six months at Palace before moving to Turkey to join Istanbul Basaksehir at the start of 2017.
He would go on to play for fellow Turkish outfit Kayserispor, prior to trying his luck in Paraguay with Olimpia.
He finished his career back in his homeland at Semassi and is now walking away from the sport after over two decades as a professional.
