André Ayew
André Morgan Rami Ayew, also known as Dede Ayew in Ghana, is a professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Dutch club NAC Breda and captains the Ghana national team.
Ayew is the second-born son of three-time African Footballer of the Year and FIFA 100 member Abedi "Pele" Ayew and has two brothers, Ibrahim and Jordan, who also are professional footballers. In 2011, Ayew was named the BBC African Footballer of the Year and Ghanaian Footballer of the Year.
Ayew began his career in Germany, playing for 1860 Munich, while debuting for the club at age seven. In 2006, he signed with his father's former club, Marseille, and spent two seasons in the club's youth academy before making his debut in the 2007–08 season. Ayew spent the following two seasons on loan with Lorient and Arles-Avignon, helping the latter team earn promotion to Ligue 1 for the first time. In 2010, he returned to Marseille and became an integral part of the first team under manager Didier Deschamps, making over 200 appearances and winning consecutive Trophée des Champions and Coupe de la Ligues in both 2010 and 2011.
Born in France, Ayew has been a full international for Ghana since 2008 and has earned 120 caps. At youth level, he starred for and captained the under-20 team that won both the 2009 African Youth Championship and the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He has played in three FIFA World Cups, as well as eight Africa Cup of Nations, helping them finish runners-up in 2010 and 2015, and was top goalscorer at the latter tournament.
Club career
Early career
Ayew began his career with 1860 Munich, where his father played. At the age of ten, Ayew was playing for Nania, where his father is club chairman, in Accra, Ghana. After four years of plying his trade in the club's youth academy, he was promoted to the team's senior squad at the age of 14. Despite being on the senior team, he still participated in youth-sanctioned events, such as the 2004 edition of the Altstetten U-19 Tournament, in which he was named one of the tournament's most famous players. Ayew played professional football at Nania for two seasons before departing the club and returning to France to play for his father's former club Marseille. Ayew joined the club on an aspirant contract and, upon his arrival, was put into the club's youth system and placed onto Marseille's first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year deal. He was officially promoted to the senior team and assigned the squad number 29 shirt.Marseille
Ayew made his professional debut for Marseille on 15 August 2007 in a league match against Valenciennes, coming on as a substitute for Modeste M'bami in the 89th minute. Marseille lost the match 2–1. On 6 November, he made his UEFA Champions League debut against Portuguese champions Porto at the Estádio do Dragão, playing on the left wing in place of Bolo Zenden. Ayew played 77 minutes before being substituted out as Marseille were defeated 2–1. Ayew earned praise from the media for his performance of containing Porto right-back José Bosingwa. Five days later, Ayew earned his first league start against Lyon at the Stade de Gerland. Ayew again featured in the team as Marseille pulled off a 2–1 victory. Ayew finished the season with 13 total appearances, nine in league play and two in cup play, in addition to two Champions League appearances. Ayew's first season with the club drew the attention of Premier League club Arsenal, who reportedly offered Marseille €6 million for the player. Marseille, however, denied the offer.Loan moves
For the 2008–09 season, Ayew switched to the squad number 8 shirt, though due to the arrival of attackers Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Wiltord, Bakari Koné and Mamadou Samassa, he was deemed surplus to requirements for the season and was loaned out to fellow first division club Lorient for the season. Ayew was used by manager Christian Gourcuff as one of the team's focal points of the attack alongside Fabrice Abriel, Kevin Gameiro and Rafik Saïfi and made his debut on 16 August 2008, coming on as a substitute in a 0–0 draw against Lyon. On 27 September 2008, he scored his first professional goal after netting the opener in the team's 1–1 draw with Sochaux. A month later, he scored his second career goal in a 4–1 rout of Saint-Étienne. Despite the initial success, Ayew was limited throughout the league campaign to just appearing as a substitute. He finished the season with 22 league appearances and three goals and, on 30 June 2009, returned to Marseille.Two months later, on 31 August 2009, the last day of the transfer window, new manager Didier Deschamps confirmed that Ayew would be joining newly promoted Ligue 2 club Arles-Avignon on loan for the 2009–10 season. Ayew was given the number 10 shirt and his favorable right wing position. He made his debut with the club on 11 September, appearing as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with Angers. The following week, he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–2 defeat to Tours. He was ever present in the team's fall campaign, but due to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, he missed the month of January. Ayew returned to the team on 5 February 2010 and appeared as a starter in all of the team's matches for the rest of the campaign. On 9 April, with the team in the midst of a promotion battle, Ayew scored a double in the team's 2–1 victory over Le Havre. The following week, he struck again scoring the opener in the team's 1–1 draw with Guingamp. On 14 May, Arles-Avignon secured promotion to Ligue 1 following the team's 1–0 win over Clermont. Ayew started and played the entire match. He finished the campaign with Arles-Avignon appearing in 26 total matches and scoring four goals.
Return to Marseille
After the successful league campaign with Arles-Avignon, on 16 May 2010, Marseille manager Didier Deschamps confirmed that Ayew would be returning to the team and that he will be earning some significant playing time with the club for the 2010–11 season. On 5 August, Ayew signed a three-year contract extension with Marseille. The new deal kept him at the club until June 2014. Despite the arrival of Loïc Rémy, Ayew was inserted as a starter by Deschamps and scored his first goal in the second league match of the season against Valenciennes in a 3–2 defeat. Following the international break in September, he scored a double against his former club Arles-Avignon in a 3–0 win.In the Coupe de la Ligue, Ayew scored goals in victories over Guingamp and Monaco in the Round of 16 and quarter-finals, respectively. On 20 November, he scored the only goal in a victory over Toulouse. Ayew scored the goal two minutes from time. On 27 April 2011, Ayew scored his first professional hat-trick in a 4–2 victory over Nice. His younger brother, Jordan, converted the other goal for Marseille in the win. Because of his outstanding performances throughout the season, Ayew was nominated for Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season, along with Marvin Martin and Yann M'Vila. He was voted Marseille's Best Player for the Season for 2010–11.
Ayew was named in the squad for the 2011 Trophée des Champions match against Lille held on 27 July 2011 at the Stade de Tanger in Morocco. He scored a hat-trick, including two 90th minute penalties, ensuring Marseille a 5–4 victory. In December 2011, Ayew signed a one-year contract extension until 2015 with a release clause of €18 million. On 22 February 2012, Ayew scored a goal in the 93rd minute, in a 1–0 victory over Inter Milan in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg. However, Marseille managed to qualify to the quarter-finals by winning on away goals rule, after drawing 2–2 on aggregate.
On 4 April 2014, Ayew scored only his second hat-trick of his Marseille career, inspiring his club to a 3–1 league victory, their first in seven outings, over bottom club Ajaccio.
Swansea City
On 10 June 2015, Premier League side Swansea City announced that Ayew had joined the club on a free transfer, signing a four-year contract with the Swans pending Premier League and international clearance. Ayew scored his first goal for the club on his debut against Chelsea on 8 August 2015 in a 2–2 draw. On 15 August 2015, Ayew scored his second goal in his second game for Swansea in their 2–0 victory against Newcastle United. He continued his form in the next league fixture against Manchester United, where he scored and created an assist. Ayew was named Premier League Player of the Month for August 2015 and also received Swansea's monthly award the GWFX Player of the Month for August after making an immediate impact, scoring three goals in his first four league appearances.Ayew ended the 2015–16 season as Swansea's top goalscorer with twelve goals from 34 Premier League appearances.
West Ham United
On 8 August 2016, Ayew signed for West Ham United for a then club record fee of £20.5 million on a three-year contract, with the option of an extra two years. Ayew's debut game for West Ham, on 15 August 2016, against Chelsea, lasted 35 minutes before he was substituted after sustaining a thigh injury. He returned to first team action on 26 October 2016 in a 2–1 home win against Chelsea in the EFL Cup. On 26 December 2016 Ayew scored his first West Ham goal. Playing away at his former club, Swansea City, Ayew scored the first goal in a 4–1 West Ham win. Ayew left West Ham in January 2018 having scored 12 goals in 50 games in all competitions.Return to Swansea City
On 31 January 2018, Ayew completed a deadline day return to Swansea City for a reported £18 million rising to £20 million with add-ons.He made twelve appearances for Swansea without scoring during the 2017–18 season as the team was relegated from the Premier League.
Fenerbahçe (loan)
In July 2018, Ayew joined Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe on a season-long loan. The deal reportedly included an option for the club to sign Ayew permanently at the end of the loan period.After scoring five goals in 29 Süper Lig appearances, Ayew returned to Swansea at the end of his loan.