Biography of Andre Ayew: His networth, Age, Family
André Morgan Rami, a professional football player from Ghana, was born on December 17, 1989, in Seclin, France, to a Ghanaian mother and Abedi Pele. He is a forward for the Black Stars of Ghana and Premier League club Swansea City.
Ayew received the BBC African Footballer of the Year and Ghanaian Footballer of the Year awards in 2011. Abedi “Pele” Ayew, a three-time African Footballer of the Year and FIFA 100 member is André’s father. Ibrahim and Jordan, André’s brothers, are both professional football players.
Little Start
Ayew started his career in Ghana, making his club debut at the age of 14 while playing for Nania. He signed a contract with Marseille in 2005 and spent two seasons in the club’s development program before making his professional debut in the 2007–08 campaign.
The following two seasons saw Ayew on loan at Lorient and Arles-Avignon, where he contributed to the latter team’s first-ever promotion to Ligue 1.
He returned to Marseille in 2010 and quickly established himself as a key member of the first squad under manager Didier Deschamps. He made over 200 appearances for the team and helped them win the Coupe de la Ligue and Trophée des Champions back-to-back in 2010 and 2011.
Since joining Ghana’s main international team in 2008, Ayew has amassed over 65 caps. He played a key role for and served as captain of the under-20 squad that won the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup as well as the 2009 African Youth Championship.
He has participated in two FIFA World Cups (2010 and 2014), four Africa Cup of Nations (2008, 2010, 2012, and 2015), helping them place second in both of those tournaments and scoring the tournament’s most goals in 2015.
Club Career
When his father played for 1860 München, Ayew started his career there. Ayew began playing at the age of 10 for Nania in Accra, Ghana, where his father serves as club chairman.
At the age of 14, he was promoted to the team’s senior squad after spending four years honing his craft at the club’s junior program.
He played in youth-sponsored competitions even though he was a member of the senior team, including the 2004 Altstetten U-19 Tournament, when he was named one of the competition’s most well-known players.
Ayew spent two seasons playing professionally at Nania before leaving the team and traveling back to France to play for Marseille, the previous team of his father. Ayew signed a three-year aspirant (“trainee”) contract when he first joined the club and was immediately placed in the youth division.
He was formally elevated to the senior squad and given the uniform number 29.
Marseille
Ayew competed for Marseille in the UEFA Champions League in 2010–2011 Ayew made his professional debut for Marseille on August 15, 2007, when he replaced Modeste M’bami in the 89th minute of a league game against Valenciennes.
Marseille fell short 2–1. He replaced Bolo Zenden on the left wing for his UEFA Champions League debut on November 6 against Portuguese champions Porto at the Estadio do Drago.
Ayew played for 77 minutes before being removed from the game as Marseille lost 2–1. The media praised Ayew for his effort in keeping Porto right-back José Bosingwa in check. Ayew received his first league start against Lyon at the Stade de Gerland five days later.
Ayew was once more a member of the Marseille squad that won 2–1. Ayew made a total of 13 appearances during the course of the season, including two in the Champions League and two each in league and cup competition.
Loan Action
Ayew changed to the number 8 jersey for the 2008–09 season, however after forwards, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Wiltord, Bakari Koné, and Mamadou Samassa joined the team, Ayew was judged surplus to needs and was loaned to fellow first division club Lorient for the year.
Along with Fabrice Abriel, Kévin Gameiro, and Rafik Safi, Ayew was used by manager Christian Gourcuff as one of the team’s focal points of the attack. He made his debut on August 16, 2008, entering as a substitute in a 0–0 draw against Lyon.
In the team’s 1–1 tie with Sochaux on September 27, 2008, he scored his first goal as a professional after scoring the opening goal. He scored his second goal of his career in a 4–1 victory over Saint-Étienne a month later. Despite the initial success, Ayew was only able to make substitute appearances for the entire league season. He returned to Marseille on June 30, 2009, having played in 22 league games and scored three goals.
Ayew joined recently promoted Ligue 2 team Arles-Avignon on loan for the 2009–10 season, according to the announcement made by new manager Didier Deschamps two months later on August 31, the final day of the transfer market. The number 10 shirt and Ayew’s favored right-wing position were given to him.
On September 11, he made his club debut, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 tie with Angers. He scored his first goal for the team the following week in a 4–2 loss to Tours. He was consistently present during the team’s fall season, but he was absent in January because of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
On February 5, 2010, Ayew rejoined the squad and played every game for the remainder of the season as a starter. Ayew scored twice on April 9 in the team’s 2–1 victory over Le Havre as they were up for promotion.
He struck again the following week, netting the team’s first goal in a 1–1 draw with Guingamp. Arles-Avignon’s 1–0 victory over Clermont on May 14 gave the squad promotion to Ligue 1. Ayew began the game and participated throughout it. He played in 26 games for Arles-Avignon in all, scoring four goals, to conclude the season.
Going back to Marseille
Didier Deschamps, the manager of Marseille, announced Ayew’s return to the squad on May 16, 2010, following his excellent league campaign with Arles-Avignon. Ayew would have significant playing time with the club during the 2010–11 season, according to Deschamps.
Ayew and Marseille agreed to a three-year contract extension on August 5. The new contract kept him with the team through June 2014. Deschamps started Ayew in the season’s second league game against Valenciennes despite the addition of Loc Rémy, and Ayew scored his first goal in the 3–2 loss.
After the international break in September, he scored twice against Arles-Avignon to help his team win 3–0.
Ayew scored goals in victories over Guingamp and Monaco in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively, of the Coupe de la Ligue.
He beat Toulouse on November 20 by scoring the lone goal. In the final two minutes, Ayew scored the goal. In a 4–2 victory over Nice on April 27, 2011, Ayew earned his first hat-trick as a professional. Jordan, his younger brother, scored Marseille’s other goal to seal the victory.
Ayew, Marvin Martin, and Yann M’Vila were all nominated for Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season in recognition of their remarkable seasons. He was chosen as Marseille’s top player for the 2010–11 campaign.
Ayew was selected for the team to face Lille in the 2011 Trophée des Champions match on July 27, 2011, at the Stade de Tanger in Morocco. His hat-trick of goals, which included two 90th-minute penalties, gave Marseille a 5–4 victory.
Ayew agreed to a one-year contract extension with a €18 million release clause till 2015 in December 2011. Ayew’s only hat-trick of his Marseille career came on April 4, 2014, when he inspired his team to a 3–1 league victory over bottom-dwelling Ajaccio, their first in seven games.
Ayew signed a four-year contract with Swansea City on June 10, 2015, subject to Premier League and international clearance. Swansea City confirmed that Ayew has joined the club on a free transfer. On August 8, 2015, in a 2–2 draw against Chelsea, Ayew scored his first goal for the team.
Ayew scored his second goal in Swansea’s 2–0 victory over Newcastle United on August 15, 2015, in just his second game for the club. In the following league game against Manchester United, he continued his strong play by scoring and setting up an assist.
Ayew made an immediate impact, scoring three goals in his first four league appearances, earning him the title of Premier League Player of the Month for August 2015 as well as Swansea’s monthly award, the GWFX Player of the Month for August.
Worldwide Career
Ayew qualified for both France and Ghana due to his dual citizenship with France and Ghana. He first said that Ghana was his first choice, citing his father, but changed his mind after the Ghana Football Association’s attempts to contact him were unsuccessful. Following his call-up, Ayew took part in a training camp with the France under-18 squad.
He declined repeated invitations to join the nation’s under-21 team in 2007. Later, Ayew informed the Ghana Football Association that he had only gotten one invitation, from France, and that he was about to accept it. He said, “At this moment there is only one choice to make because I have only received an invitation from one country and that is France.”
Ayew competed for Ghana at the under-20 level in youth competition and led the squad to victories at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup and 2009 African Youth Championship. Ayew scored twice against Cameroon and South Africa in the semifinals of the African Youth Championship.
Ghana advanced to the final, where it defeated Cameroon 2–0, thanks to a 4–3 semi-final outcome.
The team qualified for the upcoming U-20 World Cup thanks to the title win. Ayew scored the equalizing goal against South Africa in the round of 16 and two goals in a 4–0 demolition of England against England during the competition.
Dominic Adiyiah’s goal for Ghana later in extra time gave them the victory. Ayew led the squad to victories over Hungary and South Korea in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to advance to the championship game against Brazil. Ghana won the U-20 World Cup by defeating Brazil 4–3 on penalties in the championship match. In the shootout, Ayew scored Ghana’s first penalty.
Senior
Ayew received his first call-up from Ghana coach Claude Le Roy on August 7 in preparation for the team’s friendly match against Senegal on August 21. He entered the game as a late-game substitution and made his international debut. Ayew was added to the Ghana team on January 11, 2008, in preparation for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
Ayew participated in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, marking his second appearance in a major international competition. He scored his first goal for his country in the 30th minute of the team’s last group stage game against Burkina Faso on January 19, 2010, with a header.
Ghana advanced to the final and lost to Egypt 1–0 after winning the game by a score of 1–0. Ayew participated in each of the team’s five contests.
Ayew was chosen to coach Milovan Rajevac’s preliminary 30-man roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup on May 7, 2010. Later, he was selected to join his brother Ibrahim’s 23-man team to compete in the match.
In the team’s opening group stage match against Serbia on June 12, Ayew made his FIFA World Cup debut, taking the field in front of the more seasoned Sulley Muntari.
In the team’s subsequent group-stage matches against Australia and Germany, he got the start. Ayew assisted on Asamoah Gyan’s game-winning goal in the team’s round of 16 matchup against the United States after throwing a lob pass into the American defense, which Gyan received and then scored.
Ayew won FIFA’s Man of the Match award for his efforts in the game. Ayew was unable to play in the team’s quarterfinal loss to Uruguay on penalties because of a growing yellow card tally. He continued to play in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, scoring goals for the Black Stars against Mali and Tunisia as they placed fourth.
Following a disagreement with the Ghana Football Association, Ayew retired from international football in February 2013. On September 6, he rejoined the squad for a World Cup qualifying match against Zambia. Later, he began both legs of Ghana’s 7–3 aggregate play-off victory over Egypt, which guaranteed the country’s qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Ayew was added to Ghana’s World Cup roster on June 2, 2014. He scored the equalizing goal against the United States in the 82nd minute of the team’s inaugural game, which they ultimately lost 2–1. In their second group game against Germany, a 2–2 draw, he then scored the Black Stars’ first goal.
In a 2–1 loss to Senegal on January 19, 2015, Ayew scored Ghana’s opening goal of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
Honors
Cup of the Ligue: 2011 and 2012. Marseille Club: Trophée des champions in 2010 and 2011.
International
2010 and 2015: Silver Medal in the Africa Cup of Nations Bronze medal at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations 2009 Africa Youth Championship 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
