Arsenal Player Told The Queen He Wanted To Quit Football And Look After Her Corgis

Former Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue told Queen Elizabeth II that he wanted to quit football and look after her pet corgis full-time.

Eboue spent seven years with the Gunners and his infectious personality made him a cult hero despite the club's struggles.

His crowning moment arguably came in 2007 when he visited Buckingham Palace along with his Arsenal teammates, and was warned to keep a lid on his antics by Thierry Henry.

He told The Telegraph back in 2016: "We went there and Thierry Henry said to me: 'Please, Emmanuel, this is Buckingham Palace, it's the Queen's house, don't do anything.' 'No problem,' I said. 'Don't worry'.

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"So the Queen came in and went along shaking each player's hand. After she'd finished I saw all her corgis so I said, 'Ma'am, Ma'am'.

"She turned back and asked, 'How are you?'

"And I said, 'Ma'am, I am OK thank you but please, I don't want to be a footballer any more, I want to look after your dogs. I want to take them for walks, wash them, feed them. I want to be a dog carer'.

"The Queen, honestly, she was laughing. Prince Philip was laughing too. All the team were laughing."

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Talk about a unique encounter. Eboue left Arsenal for Galatasaray in 2011 and he spent four years in Turkey.

Eboue is a former Ivory Coast international and perhaps his funniest moment came in the 2010 World Cup.

The right-back followed North Korea's Hong Yong-jo to the touchline and pretended to understand the instructions he was receiving.

Never change, Emmanuel.

2016 saw Eboue return to England with Sunderland, but he'd never play a game for the club after being given a one-year ban from all footballing related activities for failing to pay an agent.

For years rumours have swirled in regards to who Her Majesty supports, but the Daily Mirror reportedly have the answer.

Staff in Buckingham Palace learned Queen Elizabeth a fan of West Ham United after overhearing a conversation.

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"The Queen has never wanted people to know who she supports because she wants to be seen to be neutral,” a Windsor Castle source explained.

"But she gave up her secret after overhearing one of her staff members saying he was a Millwall fan and was talking to another member of staff about the derby between West Ham and their arch-rivals.

"They were quite shocked -- after all, she's not exactly your typical West Ham fan."

Some have contradicted this and said she actually supports Arsenal.

It's a stark contract to current UK prime minister Boris Johnson, who says he supports every team in London.