Adebayor announces retirement at 39

One of the Premier League's most prolific strikers is hanging up his cleats.

Emmanuel Adebayor has announced his retirement from football at the age of 39.

Togo's all-time international goals leader with 32, Adebayor had spent the last two seasons with Togolese side Semassi.

A native of Lomé, Adebayor relocated to France in 1999 to join the Metz academy and made his senior debut in 2001. After two years at Metz, Adebayor joined Monaco with whom he reached the 2004 Champions League final.

In January of 2006, Adebayor signed for Arsenal and made 104 appearances for the Gunners over four seasons, scoring 46 goals, before a highly contentious move to Manchester City in 2009 after the club had been purchased by the Abu Dhabi United Group. 

Infamously, Adebayor scored in the first meeting with his old club and ran down the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the travelling Arsenal supporters, who littered the field with projectiles, including a chair. City would win the match 4-2, but Adebayor received a five-match suspension for both his celebration and a stamp on Gunners captain Robin van Persie.

Adebayor would only played 34 league games at City before a brief loan move to Real Madrid, followed by a permanent move to Tottenham Hotspur, which would further deteriorate his standing among Arsenal supporters.

With Spurs, Adebayor would score 35 goals in 92 appearances across four seasons. In 2015-2016, he would join Crystal Palace for one last Prem season before spending four seasons in Turkey with Istanbul Basaksehir and Kayserispor and one in Paraguay with Olimipia.

In total, Adebayor scored 97 Premier League goals, putting him 35th all-time and fourth among African players behind Mo Salah (131), Sadio Mané (111) and Didier Drogba (104).