In a heartbreaking story that is currently trending, Former Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue has revealed that his riches-to-rags story has left him at times contemplating suicide after spending his post-football life dodging bailiffs, sleeping on the floor of a friend’s home and washing his clothes by hand because he cannot afford a washing machine.
“I want God to help me,” Eboue said. “Only he can help take these thoughts from my mind.”
In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Eboue told how he lost a divorce battle that left his wife Aurelie with all of their assets and how he has no contact with his daughters Clara, 14, and Maeva, 12.
He said: “Every day I wash my jeans, my clothes, everything. My hands are hard. As though I have been working on a farm.
“Sometimes I shut off the lights because I don’t want people to know that I am inside. I put everything behind the door.
“I am in the house but I am scared. Because I don’t know what time the police will come.
“I look back and say ‘Emmanuel, you have been naive… why didn’t you think about that before?’ It is hard.
“In Turkey I earned eight million euros. I sent seven million back home. Whatever she tells me to sign, I sign.”
Eboue played for Arsenal for seven years before moving to Turkish side Galatasaray in 2011.
He has represented the Ivory Coast 79 times, scoring three goals in his international career and playing at the World Cup.
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