African football icon Abedi Ayew Pele is one of the most revered footballers in France, where he chalked the majority of his success.

He is well remembered for his achievements at Olympique Marseille, but how he achieved monarch status in Lille during his two seasons on loan is less well known.

After five seasons of bottom-half finishes, Abedi, in his first season, climbed to become Lille's topsman when he led them to their highest finish, 8th, in 1988-89. He scored 7 goals and the fans adored him, wishing to be a part of him.

In an interview with Dan Kwaku Yeboah on YouTube, Solar Ayew, the brother of Abedi, shared a story of how some persons believed to be Lille fans stole the former Black Stars captain's car but later returned it with an admirable message that they wanted to know how it felt to drive Abedi Ayew's car. This according to Solar Ayew depicted how revered he was to them.

"I was with him in Lille and went to a restaurant for food. He had a golf GTI, which was stolen by criminals while we were eating. So Abedi called the club to bring him another car. Police found it in less than two days and there was a letter in it. They said it is not that they don't have money to buy the same golf but they wanted to use Abedi's car, that's all," he said.

Abedi Pele was loaned out to Lille in 1988, a season after signing for Marseille. He scored 16 goals in 61 games as an attacking midfielder, propelling Marseille to recall him.

On his return, he led them to win two league titles and the UEFA Champions League in three seasons.

Watch how Solar Ayew narrated Abedi Ayew's time in Lille via the video below from the 40th minutes



EE/OGB