André Morgan Rami Ayew (; born 17 December 1989), also known as Dede Ayew in Ghana, is a professional footballer who plays as a left winger and serves as captain for the Ghana national team.
He 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 Germany, playing for 1860 München, while debuting for the club at age 7. In 2006, 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.
Born in France, Ayew has been a full international for Ghana since 2008 and has earned over 110 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 three FIFA World Cups (2010, 2014 and 2022), as well as seven Africa Cup of Nations (2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021), helping them finish runners-up in 2010 and 2015, and was top goalscorer at the latter tournament.
Club career
Early career
Ayew began his career with 1860 München, where his father played. At the age of ten, Ayew was playing for Nania, where his father is club chairman, in Accra, Ghana. After four years of plying his trade in the club's youth academy, he was promoted to the team's senior squad at the age of 14. Despite being on the senior team, he still participated in youth-sanctioned events, such as the 2004 edition of the Altstetten U-19 Tournament, in which he was named one of the tournament's most famous players. Ayew played professional football at Nania for two seasons before departing the club and returning to France to play for his father's former club Marseille. Ayew joined the club on an aspirant ("trainee") contract and, upon his arrival, was put into the club's youth system and placed onto Marseille's first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year deal. He was officially promoted to the senior team and assigned the squad number 29 shirt.
Marseille
Ayew made his professional debut for Marseille on 15 August 2007 in a league match against Valenciennes, coming on as a substitute for Modeste M'bami in the 89th minute. Marseille lost the match 2–1. On 6 November, he made his UEFA Champions League debut against Portuguese champions Porto at the Estádio do Dragão, playing on the left wing in place of Bolo Zenden. Ayew played 77 minutes before being substituted out as Marseille were defeated 2–1. Ayew earned praise from the media for his performance of containing Porto right back José Bosingwa. Five days later, Ayew earned his first league start against Lyon at the Stade de Gerland. Ayew again featured in the team as Marseille pulled off a 2–1 victory. Ayew finished the season with 13 total appearances, nine in league play and two in cup play, in addition to two Champions League appearances. Ayew's first season with the club drew the attention of Premier League club Arsenal, who reportedly offered Marseille €6 million for the player. Marseille, however, denied the offer.
Loan moves
For the 2008–09 season, Ayew switched to the squad number 8 shirt, though due to the arrival of attackers Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Wiltord, Bakari Koné and Mamadou Samassa, he was deemed surplus to requirements for the season and was loaned out to fellow first division club Lorient for the season. Ayew was used by manager Christian Gourcuff as one of the team's focal points of the attack alongside Fabrice Abriel, Kevin Gameiro and Rafik Saïfi and made his debut on 16 August 2008, coming on as a substitute in a 0–0 draw against Lyon. On 27 September 2008, he scored his first professional goal after netting the opener in the team's 1–1 draw with Sochaux. A month later, he scored his second career goal in a 4–1 rout of Saint-Étienne. Despite the initial success, Ayew was limited throughout the league campaign to just appearing as a substitute. He finished the season with 22 league appearances and three goals and, on 30 June 2009, returned to Marseille.