‘I Lost Everything’ - Former Arsenal Defender on How Putting Full Trust in Ex-Wife Left Him Bankrupt

Former Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue has explained how his decision to fully trust his ex-wife saw him lose nearly everything following a bitter divorce.

Eboue, who has since remarried and rebuilt his life, has opened up about the events leading to that sad ending following reports that he had ‘gone bankrupt and rendered homeless’ after losing most of his wealth to ex-wife Aurelie Bertrand in England nearly 10 years ago.

“I did not have any girlfriend when I came to Belgium and met the mother of my kids,” Eboue told The5thHouse Podcast, while denying that he had left a woman in the Ivory Coast when he first moved to Europe to join Belgian club Beveren.

“With love, it depends on how you feel in your heart. When I went there, I saw her and we connected. When I stay with someone, I put everything in it, more that 100 per cent. I will not cheat or hurt you. She was my wife, gave me three kids so everything that I was doing it was all about her,” the former right-back shared on how he trusted his ex-wife.

“I was playing and everything about finance and paperwork it was her looking after that. I did not think about anything going on because she was the mother of my kids,” he further stated.

Eboue moved from Belgium to join Premier League giants Arsenal in 2004 and played for the Gunners for until 2011 under legendary coach Arsene Wenger. In 2011, he signed for Turkish giants Galatasaray, playing there for two years.

It was during his time at Arsenal when he had his career highs and also earned a good salary that allowed him to buy houses, luxury cars and make key investments.

Things went south when he left the Turkish club, struggling to find a new team, before he landed a two-year deal with Sunderland. As he was just about to begin his new adventure, a problem arose.

“I finished my contract with Galatasaray and they did not want to renew so I was training alone in Turkey. Sunderland came and I was happy. I went there for trials so Sam Allardyce said I want to sign you for two years,” Eboue recounts.

“I was with my ex-wife at the time and when I was done signing, I had a problem with my agent. They had not done anything for me but still wanted me to give them 1 million Euro (Ksh152 million), which I refused.

“They went to FIFA and FIFA banned me for one year. So, I decided to stop playing and that is when problems started,” says the 42-year-old, who retired from football in 2020.

Eboue admits his ex-wife took full advantage of his trust in her and went ahead to swindle him, leaving him depressed and hiding from the public when the story came out.

“She was doing things I did not know and I was not in England a lot. I was in Turkey. I went there [Turkey] to hide because I did not want people to know that I did not have a club,” the former Ivory Coast international said.

“I lost a lot, I lost everything in England because in England is where I did a lot for myself. I bought three houses, had a lot of cars so all of them and money, I lost.”

Eboue went on to remarry, tying the knot with his childhood sweetheart Stephanie Boede, after returning to the Ivory Coast and currently owns and runs a football academy in his country.