Emmanuel Adebayor has credited former teammates including Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry for his hat-trick against Galatasaray, as the Togo striker secured himself the match ball during a convincing 4-0 victory for Istanbul Basaksehir on Monday.
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The 33-year-old hitman opened the scoring inside 11 minutes, doubled his haul shortly before half-time and completed his treble with a second-half header.
Adebayor ended a six-year wait for a treble during a star performance for Basaksehir, with the former Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid forward acknowledging the role illustrious colleagues from his past have played in helping him to remain on top of his game.
"I think it was my first hat trick since Real Madrid [an 8-1 win over Almeria in May 2011],” he told reporters. "I owe it to the great players I played with like Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Ronaldo - this is for them and what I learned from them."
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Adebayor moved to Turkey as a free agent in January, having failed to earn an extended stay in the Premier League at Crystal Palace.
He has now netted five goals for Basaksehir, helping to keep them within five points of Super Lig leaders Besiktas with seven games remaining.
