Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor is a Togolese former professional footballer who played as a striker.
55 Facts About Emmanuel Adebayor
2.
Emmanuel Adebayor previously played for English clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace, as well as French side Metz, Monegasque team Monaco, Spanish team Real Madrid, Turkish clubs Istanbul Basaksehir and Kayserispor, Paraguay's Club Olimpia and Togolese club Semassi.
3.
Emmanuel Adebayor was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2008 while playing at Arsenal, and during his latter career, when he joined Olimpia Asuncion in 2020, he became the highest paid player in Paraguay.
4.
In January 2010, Emmanuel 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.
5.
Emmanuel Adebayor is currently Togo's all-time top goalscorer with 32 goals.
6.
Emmanuel Adebayor was spotted playing for Sporting Club de Lome by scouts from Metz, who brought him to France in 1999.
7.
Emmanuel Adebayor made his Ligue 1 debut against Sochaux on 17 November 2001.
8.
Emmanuel Adebayor was given the nickname "Baby Kanu" due to his resemblance to former Arsenal star Nwankwo Kanu, whom Adebayor had idolised as a youth.
9.
Emmanuel Adebayor was cup-tied for Arsenal's run to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final.
10.
Emmanuel Adebayor was shown a red card after a fracas towards the end of the match involving both Chelsea and Arsenal players.
11.
Bendtner appeared to cut his nose in the clash, for which Emmanuel Adebayor apologised the following day.
12.
Emmanuel Adebayor was awarded the BBC African Footballer of the Year for his performance in 2008.
13.
Emmanuel Adebayor made a goalscoring return to action, scoring a brace on his return against Manchester City.
14.
Emmanuel Adebayor was injured for the last two Premier League matches and finished the season as Arsenal's second top goalscorer in all competitions with 16, behind Robin van Persie's 20.
15.
Emmanuel Adebayor was criticised for running almost the full length of the pitch to the Arsenal supporters and celebrating his goal in front of them.
16.
Emmanuel Adebayor was booked for this, but did later apologise.
17.
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes suggested Emmanuel Adebayor did it because he wanted to be loved by City fans.
18.
Emmanuel Adebayor scored his first goal for Real Madrid in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
19.
On 6 March 2011, Emmanuel Adebayor scored the opening goal in the 24th minute against Racing de Santander from a Mesut Ozil pass.
20.
On 10 September 2011, Emmanuel Adebayor scored on his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 67th minute.
21.
Emmanuel Adebayor finished the season as Tottenham's top goalscorer, with 18 goals, 17 in the Premier League.
22.
On 1 January 2013, Emmanuel Adebayor scored his first home goal of the season for Spurs against Reading, with a header from an Aaron Lennon cross.
23.
On 14 March 2013, Emmanuel Adebayor scored the decisive away goal that put Spurs through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League in an aggregate win against Internazionale.
24.
Emmanuel Adebayor went on to shoot over the bar following a run-up with a decisive penalty in the following round against Basel, which ultimately resulted in Spurs' elimination from the tournament.
25.
Emmanuel Adebayor went on to score eight goals in his next ten Premier League matches, with goals in wins against Southampton, Manchester United and Swansea City, Everton and Newcastle United.
26.
Emmanuel Adebayor was released from his Tottenham contract by mutual consent on 13 September 2015.
27.
On 26 January 2016, Emmanuel Adebayor joined Premier League side Crystal Palace on a six-month deal until the end of the season.
28.
On 13 June 2016, it was confirmed that Emmanuel Adebayor would be released upon the expiry of his Palace contract on 30 June.
29.
On 31 January 2017, Emmanuel Adebayor signed a contract with Super Lig club Istanbul Basaksehir until June 2018.
30.
Emmanuel Adebayor added another goal from five Turkish Cup games, where his team was again runners-up.
31.
On 26 August 2019, Emmanuel Adebayor joined Turkish Super Lig side Kayserispor on a one-year contract.
32.
Emmanuel Adebayor joined Paraguayan Primera Division club Olimpia Asuncion on 11 February 2020, on a free transfer from Kayserispor.
33.
Emmanuel Adebayor signed a contract after a successful medical examination and was officially presented at the Estadio Manuel Ferreira.
34.
Emmanuel Adebayor was reunited at Olimpia with his former Manchester City teammate Roque Santa Cruz, who had returned to the club in 2016.
35.
Emmanuel Adebayor said that it was the influence of Santa Cruz that convinced him to join Olimpia.
36.
Three days later, Emmanuel Adebayor played in the Copa Libertadores against Argentine club Defensa y Justicia.
37.
That same month, Emmanuel Adebayor stated that he wanted to return to Olimpia at some point.
38.
Emmanuel Adebayor announced his retirement from professional football on 21 March 2023, aged 39.
39.
Emmanuel Adebayor was eligible to play for Nigeria but chose to represent the country of his birth, Togo.
40.
Emmanuel Adebayor helped Togo qualify for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations after scoring 11 goals in the qualifiers, more than any other player in the African qualifiers.
41.
Emmanuel Adebayor beat final nominees Mohamed Aboutrika of Egypt and Ghana's Michael Essien in a vote that involved the national team coaches of CAF's 54 member-nations.
42.
Emmanuel Adebayor helped Togo to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and started all three group matches against South Korea, Switzerland and France, but did not score any goals and Togo ended up in last place in their group.
43.
Emmanuel Adebayor was called up for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, where he was a substitute for the country's first match, following a row with the coach.
44.
Emmanuel Adebayor first vowed to leave the tournament and return home, although he later resumed training with the side.
45.
Emmanuel Adebayor was dropped by Togo following the row over bonus payments.
46.
However, Emmanuel Adebayor was brought back into the Togo team in September 2007.
47.
On 8 January 2010, Emmanuel Adebayor was one of the players involved when the Togo national team's bus came under a gunfire attack on the way to the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.
48.
Emmanuel Adebayor even wore the number 25 shirt at Arsenal, like his Idol, and the number 4 shirt at international level, while he was even given the nickname "Baby Kanu" in the media due to their similar playing styles.
49.
Emmanuel Adebayor was known for his pace, strength, and technique, as well as his goalscoring and ability to link-up with his teammates.
50.
Emmanuel Adebayor was a pundit for the BBC Sport's 2010 FIFA World Cup coverage.
51.
Emmanuel Adebayor is the uncle of Georgia Revolution FC midfielder Alex Harlley.
52.
Emmanuel Adebayor gave me the chance to be where I am today and He's the one that can take it all away from me.
53.
Emmanuel Adebayor's mother took young Adebayor around Africa looking for a cure.
54.
On 5 May 2015, Emmanuel Adebayor made a lengthy post on his public Facebook page describing his family troubles.
55.
In July 2017, Emmanuel Adebayor stated in an interview regarding his family issues that his late brother had sent an official letter to Real Madrid asking them to not keep Emmanuel Adebayor on after his loan spell.