Samassi Abou, West Ham United
Former Hammer Samassi Abou is not a bus driver in Basildon.
A £250,000 signing by Harry Redknapp from French club Cannes in October 1997, Abou’s pedigree matched his price tag. A striker who had scored five goals in 37 appearances at his previous club and never received international recognition
“Aboooooooouuuuuuuuuuuu!” would become a familiar bellowed chant around the Boleyn Ground that season.
“He don’t speak the English too good,” the famously eloquent manager Harry Redknapp once remarked about his African striker.
This manifested itself most amusingly when Abou shocked viewers of Soccer AM by swearing live on air, having been informed by a mischievous fellow Hammers player that it would be acceptable to say “f*** off” on the early morning TV show, which he duly did.
Abou scored a total of six goals in 26 appearances in his first season and Redknapp smelt a profit in the offing, but a proposed £800,000 move to Bradford City which broke down when the player failed a medical. He eventually moved French side AC Ajaccio in 2000 on a free transfer.
Abou retired from football in 2003 but, despite finishing his playing career in France, an Internet rumour took hold that he had returned to London, to work as a bus driver in Basildon.
Abou told the Athletic “Somebody phoned and told me that they saw in the newspaper I’m a bus driver in London, Come on? Me a bus driver? The only business I know is football. I also have a fake Twitter page. I find these things funny.”
Abou lives in Abidjan, the economic capital of the Ivory Coast, where he runs a football academy called the Red Academy which coaching kids between the ages of 11-17.
“The academy is called Red because I’m a big Liverpool fan,” he said. “I love that club and the kids love the name. We’re based in Ivory Coast in Abidjan. We have a big problem in this country when it comes to developing young players, so hopefully this academy can change that.”
Abou is planning on visiting London in April to spend time with his daughter and wants to attend a home game at the London Stadium when David Moyes’s side face Chelsea on April 5, a day after Abou’s 47th birthday
“Any time they are ready I will come back to support the team,” he says. “I’ve been there three or four times since I left the club. My daughter lives in London so if West Ham have a home game I always make sure I’m there. The young fans don’t know who I am but the older supporters recognise me. I want to tell the West Ham fans: don’t let down your team because they need you right now,” he says. “So many people say ‘Abooooouuuuuu’ and that’s thanks to you guys. It was my pleasure to play for West Ham, my time at the club was special and most importantly I love you guys.”