Emmanuel Adebayor (born February 26, 1984 in Lomé, Togo) is a Togolese football player who currently plays for Arsenal. He had previously played for FC Metz and AS Monaco. Nicknamed "Sheyi", he is of Nigerian descent via his parents who were born in the Osun State in south-west Nigeria.
Metz and Monaco
Adebayor started his professional career at a training camp in Lomé. He made it to Under-15 level and was spotted by French club, FC Metz. After a trial, Adebayor joined the club in 1999, and after playing at Under-17 level for two years he moved up to the first team. In his first season, he played nine games and scored twice, however he could not stop them from being relegated. In the 2002-03 season Adebayor scored 17 goals in 35 games, which attracted the attention of top clubs including Arsenal and Juventus.
However, it was AS Monaco who signed him. In the 2003-04 season he scored seven goals in 17 matches for them, helping them to reach the UEFA Champions League final with two goals in ten games.
Arsenal
On January 13, 2006, Adebayor signed for Arsenal for an undisclosed fee, which is rumoured to be around £7 million. He was assigned shirt number 25, which previously belonged to, amongst others, Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu. In an interview with Arsenal.com, Adebayor said that he chose that shirt number because he idolised Kanu while he was a young player. Like Kanu, he also wears the number 4 shirt when playing for his national team. The two players also share an extraordinary physical resemblance, earning Adebayor the affectionate nickname 'Baby Kanu' in homage to the former Arsenal man
Arsenal Career
On February 4, 2006, he made his Arsenal début in a Premiership match at Birmingham City and scored after 21 minutes; Arsenal won 2-0. At the end of his first season for the Gunners he had scored 4 goals in 10 matches. However, Adebayor was cup-tied for Arsenal's 2006 Champions League run and missed the final against FC Barcelona, as he had appeared for Monaco in the Champions League the season prior to his January transfer.
On the international front, Adebayor helped Togo qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany by scoring 11 goals in the qualifiers, the most in the African qualification tournament. He has been nominated twice for African Footballer of the Year.
His first footballing action following his move to Arsenal came for Togo at the 2006 African Cup of Nations, where he was only a substitute for the country's first match. Adebayor first vowed to leave the tournament and return home, although he later rescinded and resumed training with the side . He played in Togo's two remaining fixtures, where he impressed despite not scoring; Togo were eliminated after losing all three matches.
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