Emmanuel Eboue: ‘I lost everything after ban’

Former Arsenal and Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Eboue has come out to reveal how he lost his fortunes following a break up with his mother of three kids.

‎Speaking on the 5th House Podcast, the 42-year-old opened up about the legal proceedings that reportedly left him penniless in England, the country where he spent the most successful years of his professional career.

“I was crying every day.” — Emmanuel Eboué

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‎Eboué, who was a mainstay in the Gunners’ starting XI during the mid-2000s, confirmed the settlement resulted in the total loss of his UK-based assets.

‘I lost everything in my life in England’

“I lost a lot. A lot. To be honest, I don’t want to say how much but it was a lot,” said Eboue, who began his football career in the ASEC Mimosas youth academy.

“I lost everything in my life in England. I did everything in my career in England. I bought a lot of houses there. I had three houses there, and I had a lot of cars. I lost all of them, and I lost money also.”

“I was very, very down. I was feeling very down because I was living somewhere that the press knew where I was living.

“So, every day the press was there, so I had to cut up boxes and then put them on the windows because I don’t want the press or media to take pictures of me. I was very, very down. It was very bad; I didn’t even eat.”

Eboue further explained how his downfall started: “They wanted me to give them [my agent] €1million, so I said I would prefer to stop playing football than give them that money.

“My ex-agent went to FIFA and then FIFA banned me for one year. I moved back to Turkey to hide, because I didn’t want people to know I didn’t have a club, and that’s when the divorce started.”

Eboué debuted for Ivory Coast in 2004

Eboue moved to Europe to play for Belgium’s Beveren in 2002. He spent most of his career, from 2005 to 2011, with Arsenal of the Premier League, playing 214 games, including the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final.

Emmanuel Eboue had £20 million career earnings, but went broke after his Belgian ex wife won custody of their kids and ownership of ALL HIS ASSETS.

He was homeless, after being kicked out of his house.

He got remarried to his Ivorian ex girlfriend in 2019. pic.twitter.com/5svd16iWVs

— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) April 24, 2026

Later he moved to Galatasaray, where he played regularly and won five domestic honours in Turkey. Eboué made his international debut for the Ivory Coast in 2004, eventually earning 79 caps by 2013. He was part of their squads at five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and two World Cups.

Eboué debuted for Ivory Coast in 2004 and had generally been a regular fixture in the defence operating at right-back for the Elephants, along with former teammate Kolo Touré.

Eboué scored his first goal for Ivory Coast in a 2-2 draw against Germany. He was named in Sven-Göran Eriksson’s Ivory Coast squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.