Former Arsenal and Togo forward Emmanuel Adebayor has announced his retirement from football.
The 39-year-old had an illustrious career that began at French Ligue 1 club Metz in 2001 and went on to play for 10 further clubs that included Monaco, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace.
Adebayor’s most prolific spells came at Arsenal and Spurs were he scored a combined 104 goals and provided 39 assists for the two fierce London rivals.
Overall, Adebayor scored 207 club goals over the course of his career and provided 65 assists, and is now excited about the next chapter of his life.
“From the highs to the lows, my career as a professional athlete has been an incredible journey,” the Lome-born forward said in an Instagram post.
“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!”
On the international scene, Adebayor appeared 88 times for the Togo national team between 2000 and 2019, making history as they qualified for a first-ever World Cup in 2006 in Germany. The Sparrowhawks were unbeaten throughout the qualifiers and Adebayor finished as top scorer with 11 goals. He also appeared at four Africa Cup of Nations (2002, 2006, 2013 and 2017).
Adebayor scored a total of 32 goals for Togo which makes his the West African nation’s all-time top scorer.
The biggest highlight of his career came in 2008 when he was voted as the African Footballer of the Year ahead of Mohamed Abou Trika of Egypt and Michael Essien of Ghana.
