Legendary Ghanaian footballer Abedi Ayew ‘Pele’ has revealed that he became a homeowner at the young age of 17.
Abedi, the father of the Ayew brothers Andre and Jordan, enjoyed a successful football career spanning over two decades.
He began his career at Real Tamale United (RTU) in Ghana, before his talent took him to Qatari side Al Sadd, where he spent a year before moving to FC Zurich.
Now 59 years old, Abedi later played for clubs including Olympique Marseille, Lille, Lyon, Torino, 1860 Munich, and Al Ain before retiring from professional football.
Abedi disclosed that he earned around $10,000 when he joined Al Sadd as a teenager following the 1982 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Libya. He used part of this money to build his first house in Alajo, Accra, becoming a homeowner at just 17.
“We went to Libya in 1982 and then returned home. At the age of 17 or 17-and-a-half, I turned professional. My first professional country was Qatar, where I played for about two years and won every trophy,” Abedi told Bola Ray in an interview.
“I earned $10,000 at the time, which was a substantial amount 20 to 22 years ago. RTU had a signing-on fee of $50,000 to $60,000. Although I didn’t receive a signing bonus, I had my salaries and bonuses.
“When I came back to Ghana, I built a small house at Alajo near the railway line. So, by the age of 17 or 18, I had built my first house.”
Abedi was a national treasure in the 1980s and 1990s, part of the team that won Ghana’s last AFCON trophy in 1982. He was also named African Footballer of the Year three times and won the UEFA Champions League with Olympique Marseille.