Black Stars Captain Andre Ayew Is 30 Years Today

Black Stars captain, André Morgan Rami Ayew is 30 years today. He was born on 17 December 1989.

The Swansea City ace 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 Ghana, playing for Nania while debuting for the club at age 14. In 2005, 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.

Ayew has been a full international for Ghana since 2008 and has earned over 80 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 two FIFA World Cups (2010 and 2014), as well as six Africa Cup of Nations (2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2019), helping them finish runner-up in 2010 and 2015, and was top goalscorer at the latter tournament.

Ayew is currently with Swansea City where he has made a great start to the season.

Personal life

Ayew was born in Seclin, a commune in the arrondissement of Lille, to a Ghanaian mother and father. Ayew comes from a family of footballers. His father, Abedi Pele, was a professional footballer and was playing for Lille at the time of his birth.

He is the nephew of Kwame Ayew and Sola Ayew, both of whom are former international footballers. Ayew also has two brothers who are professional footballers; Ibrahim and Jordan, and a sister, Imani. Jordan currently plays for Crystal Palace and Ibrahim currently plays for Europa in Gibraltar. André Ayew is a practicing Muslim.

Below are some of the achievements of the former Olympique Marseille ace.

BBC African Footballer of the Year - 2011

• Captained U20 that won both the 2009 African Youth Championship
• Captained U20 that won 2009 FIFA World Cup
• Played in 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups
• Featured in 5 AFCONS
• Top Goalscorer at AFCON 2015

Ayew is married to one Yvonne and they are blessed with two kids.