What happened to… Adebayor? ‘Manolito’ has his own NGO

There was a man who, for six months, dethroned the Benzema-Higuaín bipartisanship. In Togo he was called Emmanuel and in Madrid, Manolito. A 1.92 meter giant that left its mark in London, Manchester, Madrid, Kayseri and even Asunción. And at home, well, he came to accuse his mother, with whom he does not have a good relationship, of practicing witchcraft to ruin his career. Because Adebayor -here is his stage name- is one of those people who is taking a long time to publish his autobiography. And it is that her life is a story like few others, and here is a small summary: from his attempted suicide in Metz to his NGO for the ‘independence’ of Africa, going through a football career of 11 teams. And beware, he is not officially retired; at least to this day he still has not said it publicly.

suicide threat

At just 16 years old, he arrived in Europe to play in the lower categories of the Metz. Wearing that shirt he grew up and became an adult, a stage that he himself describes as a hellwith a story that chills the blood, because he came to plan his suicide: “All I wanted to do was help my family, who were poor, but they put a lot of pressure on me (his own family). I couldn’t take it. In Metz they paid me about 3,000 pounds a month and my family asked me for a house that cost half a million. Also, the club was tired of me because of my behavior. One night I sat on my bed and thought, ‘What am I doing here? No one is happy with me, so why go on living?“.

He went down to a nearby pharmacy to buy pills and provoke a overdose. “There was a pharmacy under my apartment. I ordered quite a few packs of pills. So many that they didn’t want to sell them to me, but I told them it was for a charity in Togo. I prepared everything. I was ready but… I called my best friend in the middle of the night. And he calmed me down. He told me that he had things to live for. ‘You have the potential to change Africa.’ At that moment he managed to take the idea away from me”, he confessed in an interview with the Daily Mail. That call and those words from his friend stopped him.

And he kept playing football. He signed him Monaco and from there, he went to Arsenal, the team in his entire career with which he has played the most games (142) and scored the most goals (62). His next destination, in exchange for 29 million -a lot of money for the time-, was the Manchester Citywhere he left abruptly for Real Madrid: the English signed Dzeko with a larger investment (35 million) and they released him… After a fight with Kolo Touré! They came to blows and citizenstired of the ‘conflictive’ Emmanuel, sounded the market in search of a transfer.

Madrid appears

The whites had just injure Higuain with notable gravity (back, several months off) and they saw an opportunity in Adebayor. But there was a problem: the Togolese earned around seven million per season, an unaffordable salary if a transfer price had to be added. It is there that Florentino, after negotiating, reached an agreement with City: they would not pay anything for the loan, free assignment, but in exchange, Madrid would pay his full record (about three million, when he arrived in January). He accepted City, which had serious urgencies not only to give him a ‘ticket’, but to lighten his wage bill, since he was threatened by UEFA by accumulating debts.

This is how Adebayor arrived in Madrid on January 24, 2011, with a purchase option of 14 million that would not be executed. Although his performance was so surprising (8 goals, one every 139 ‘), that many came to ask for it. Mourinho came to choose him ahead of Benzema in very important matches, such as the Cup final against Barcelona at Mestalla or the Champions League tie against Tottenham. Manolitoas he was quickly nicknamed, became an idol in those months, a footballer who far from that conflicting ballot he discovered in himself ‘another Manolito’, a friendly and cheerful player. Oblivious to the problems.

Layover in London, en route to Turkey

But these flourished when his loan ended. City reopened the exit door for him and transferred him to Tottenham, who after having him on loan for a season, decided to sign him on property for another course, in exchange for 6 million. Thus ended his relationship with Manchester City and after that brief contract, also with Spurs (his argument to justify his poor performance was that his mother had made him witchcraft). They did not renew him and he was released. But he did not have to move from London, because the humble Crystal Palace: defended its colors in the 2015-16 season, in which Ranieri’s legendary Leicester won the title.

From then on, his career in a big league was over. He packed his bags and signed for the Estambul Basaksehir, where he was received at the airport as an absolute star. And his performance was not bad at all: he played 76 games and scored 28 goals. From there, to another team from Turkey, the Kayserisporwith whom he did sign a very poor performance: he was only four months, since he terminated his contract in December after having played only eight games. He went to Paraguay, to Olimpia, where he only had time to play four games (and see a red one), because the Covidthe leagues stopped…

A (non) retreat

And Adebayor retired. After the quarantine, he has not played football again. Although not officially retired, because he has never published a text announcing that he hangs up his boots or has given a farewell press conference. But he arrived in June, he ended his contract with Olimpia and nothing more was known. For Assumption It is said that the Paraguayan culture marked him so much that he visits them often and is seen walking through the streets with great naturalness and; attention, always with a terere in hand, a drink made with yerba mate leaves, water with lots of ice and pohá ñaná. Those who have dealt with him say that he became addicted, in the good sense of the word, to that concoction.

What does Adebayor do now?

Manolito founded SEA, his own NGOwhich carries out extensive work throughout the African continent. In fact, SEA’s main mission is to support agriculture so that Africa no longer has to depend on other continents. In that sense, Adebayor is a very active person on social networks to show all the progress he is making. For example, he collaborates with Jeuf Zone Farm, another NGO focused on food, with which he has shared on occasion food that he himself has grown on a farm that he has set up in his own home.

The activity of your foundation it doesn’t end there at all. It also supports the schooling of minors and adults (“education is the most dangerous weapon to change the world,” he wrote) and the fight for human rights in his country, recently meeting with the UNPD. “You have the potential to change Africa,” his friend told him that night in Metz. And that is what it is now trying to do with SEA. Change Africa.