Emmanuel Adebayor: I would love to play for Spurs in the Champions League

[L-man]

Move to transfer rumours if need be please mods

In his first interview since the end of the season, striker says he hopes to take the next big step with Tottenham despite worries over his future at the club


Emmanuel Adebayor is uncertain about the future after a successful season at Tottenham but if the striker were in complete control of his destiny, he insists he would commit himself to a longer spell at White Hart Lane.
Adebayor scored 18 goals and provided 11 assists during this campaign, helping Spurs finish fourth in the Premier League. If Bayern Munich beat Chelsea in the Champions League Final on Saturday, it will ensure Spurs are involved in the competition for the second time in three seasons.

Whatever Adebayor’s wishes are, the matter is out of his hands. The 28-year-old has two years to run on a £170,000-a-week contract at Manchester City, figures that put him well above Tottenham’s wage limits. City will allow Adebayor to leave but on their terms, meaning a repeat of the subsidised loan deal that enabled Spurs to sign him last summer is highly unlikely.

While Adebayor does not know what lies ahead, he knows his own mind — and, in his first interview since the end of the season, he speaks it. The forward will leave negotiations in the hands of his representatives while he embarks on a summer in which he hopes to push forward a number of educational projects in his native Togo.
“I don’t know yet whether I’ll be here or not next year but my first choice now would be to stay at Tottenham,” Adebayor said. “I am not going to go on my knees and beg anyone; this is for others to sort out.
“If a deal can be done, then fine. I would love to play for Tottenham. If not, then trust me: I will keep Tottenham in my heart. I am a former Arsenal player, too, but everyone knows how that ended. I know north London very well, my home is here and I have had a fantastic year.

“I am a huge fan of Tottenham now and I love the club. If I am not at the club in the future, I will be following their games and wishing them luck. I played at Arsenal for three years but today I keep Tottenham in my heart more than Arsenal, even though I haven’t played here for as long.
“I have played in the Champions League for Monaco, Arsenal and Real Madrid and I’d love to play there for Tottenham, too, but it’s not only my choice. The fans have been incredible towards me, always showing their support, and hopefully I’ll be in the competition next year. We will see what happens.

“I have great relationships here, with the manager Harry Redknapp, too. People have said certain things about our rapport but we’ve never had an argument. Since I’ve been at Tottenham, everything I’ve done has been to make the club go further. We were fourth and now we will see where we are going to finish next season.”
While Adebayor considers the next step — there are offers from Russia and the US — the former Monaco player is also attempting to improve life for his countrymen in some of the poorest parts of Togo. Adebayor contributes a large amount of his own money to charity initiatives and he is trying to help organise improvements to educational standards in his Togo. He is investigating ways to fund the building of schools in villages many miles from the capital, Lome.

“A lot of people would love to be in my position so whatever it takes to help, I will do it,” he added. “I have the chance to build a school in one of the poorer villages where people are struggling.

“There is a lack of facilities for secondary education. There aren’t computers, some of the teachers aren’t so good, so it’s a tough one. I can’t do everything but whatever we footballers can do to help our continent, we have to do it.

“We are lucky to be where we are today so I have to remember that.”

Adebayor has been friends with Chelsea forward Didier Drogba since the pair were playing in French football and his pride is apparent when he discusses the achievements of Senegalese forwards Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse at Newcastle. He is optimistic about what Spurs can achieve, although he recognises the importance of Champions League qualification to their cause.

While finishing fourth represented a strong effort, Adebayor knows a side who were fighting for the title in January could have achieved more. “Our target was to finish in the top four and today we are fourth but while I will not be harsh, we could have done better,” he added. “We played some great football but there was a point where a bit of tiredness kicked in, and there were injuries to important players, like Aaron Lennon.
“But I can still say we were successful. We finished above Chelsea and Liverpool and we were very close to finishing ahead of Arsenal, and for the first time in many years, we can see that Spurs are closing the gap on Arsenal.

“I don’t know yet where I will be next season but the target has to be to make progress every year. Tottenham were fifth the season before this one, fourth this season, so it is time to try for the top three next year.
“I believe Tottenham are going to become a bigger club, one of the main contenders, but to do that, they have to be in the Champions League. When you are in that competition, you can afford to buy some players and it helps the club. Hopefully Spurs will be there.”

Would Adebayor be part of that adventure? More skilful negotiation from chairman Daniel Levy would be needed but whatever the outcome, Adebayor has already made his mark.

 

[adiepf]

would be a good i dea to keep the fella imo, alongside decent competition if possible

 

[Yid121]

Really nice to hear. I would love it if we kept him.

But knowing Adebayor he'll now go to PSG just to earn 20k a week extra.

 

[gilzeantheking]

Would love him to stay.

 

[KingKay]

Don't realistically see how we can improve on Ade, just hoping Levy can weave his magic!

 

[ajspurs]

“I am a huge fan of Tottenham now and I love the club. If I am not at the club in the future, I will be following their games and wishing them luck. I played at Arsenal for three years but today I keep Tottenham in my heart more than Arsenal, even though I haven’t played here for as long.

Great to hear. I actually think with his ability he could have given even more to the team but there's no doubt that he contributed largely to us finishing 4th. Thanks Ade!

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Sweet talk but I can't see this happening. I can see him ending up somewhere like Malaga, USA or Abu Dhabi.

 

[Spursh]

Still not entirely convinced he compliments our wingers and especially VDV all that well.

Ofcourse I appreciate his excellent link-up play, but it's that link-up play that has adversely had a negative affect on players like VDV and Balennon.

This is because he drops off far too much into VDV's position, taking up space there and not in the box, and I think this has gone someway to discouraging Bale to stay out left and whip crosses in, simply because there is no one there to finish them off.

Ade is far more of a creative player than he is a goal scorer, so in this way he is more similar to VDV than he is to Defoe or Saha for example. If we didn't have VDV I'd be all for signing Ade, but we already have VDV, and I'd rather our wage space goes to a striker who suits our team more.

I'd sign a proper goal scorer/centre forward for next season, to allow VDV to play high up the pitch and link-up play, but also allow Balennon to get crosses in with someone determined to get on the end of them.

It's a good interview, nice words, and I know I will be in the minority with my views on Adebayor

 

[ajspurs]

Still not entirely convinced he compliments our wingers and especially VDV all that well.

Ofcourse I appreciate his excellent link-up play, but it's that link-up play that has adversely had a negative affect on players like VDV and Balennon.

This is because he drops off far too much into VDV's position, taking up space there and not in the box, and I think this has gone someway to discouraging Bale to stay out left and whip crosses in, simply because there is no one there to finish them off.

Ade is far more of a creative player than he is a goal scorer, so in this way he is more similar to VDV than he is to Defoe or Saha for example. If we didn't have VDV I'd be all for signing Ade, but we already have VDV, and I'd rather our wage space goes to a striker who suits our team more.

I'd sign a proper goal scorer/centre forward for next season, to allow VDV to play high up the pitch and link-up play, but also allow Balennon to get crosses in with someone determined to get on the end of them.

It's a good interview, nice words, and I know I will be in the minority with my views on Adebayor

I think he started off linking well with the wide men but he certainly didn't really have a relationship with VDV. Yes we saw them link up against Fulham but there was never a real connection between the two of them IMO.

 

[guy]

i think we'll get him... he wants to stay, arry wants him and his transfer fee is tiny for a striker of his ability.

If we were to go out and buy a strike as good as him we'd pay 20mill, hell thats what we'll likely spunk on Remy (probably not in the same league talent wise?). But if we get Ade for 8-10mill, theres a whole 8-10 mill more to put towards the wages/signing-on bonus

 

[Spursh]

I think he started off linking well with the wide men but he certainly didn't really have a relationship with VDV. Yes we saw them link up against Fulham but there was never a real connection between the two of them IMO.

I agree, and this is very worrying if it's the same story next season

It's one or the other IMO, and for me, I'd rather VDV with a clinical striker in front of him.

We've missed out on his attacking qualities this year because Ade and Bale took it upon themselves to occupy his area of the pitch for the majority of the season, forcing him to play deeper.

He is our most important attacker IMO, in terms of his quality of movement and finishing, and we've got to have a system next season suited to him more than any other player.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

Although he went through some dips in form overall I'm very happy with his contribution, 18 goals and joint 4th in the league assists table just shows exactly what he brought to us

 

[ajspurs]

I agree, and this is very worrying if it's the same story next season

It's one or the other IMO, and for me, I'd rather VDV with a clinical striker in front of him.

We've missed out on his attacking qualities this year because Ade and Bale took it upon themselves to occupy his area of the pitch for the majority of the season, forcing him to play deeper.

He is our most important attacker IMO, in terms of his quality of movement and finishing, and we've got to have a system next season suited to him more than any other player.

Yea I agree. I've always said the only problem with Adebayor is that he doesn't really get goals on his own. When the going gets tough, you can't rely on him to create something out of nothing or very little. This doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy with him next season, because without a doubt he's contributed a lot this season for us,
but I don't think the issue should be ignored.

Yea, I feel the same with VDV, I gotta admit, I didn't even initially really see it but he's so important to our team, if we utilise him correctly you know that he will get you goals and assists. Plus he's our only player who can hit a dead ball well at the moment...

 

[mpickard2087]

Well we'll see what he's more happy with I guess, playing for us or the £100,000+ a week paypacket.

Hopefully we can get him signed up. Thought he would be excellent for us last summer and bar a few poor games here and there hasnt disappointed.

 

[The Watcher]

What I don't understand is this...
He apparently wants to come, City want him out the club and off the payroll, therefore we could probably buy him for £10-15m and he's worth at least £20m in today's market.
Why don't we just pay him £100k p/w and give him the difference in a signing-on fee? It doesn't upset the wage structure, everyone's happy and this whole sorry 'will he? won't he?' saga is over!

 

[Scott Spur]

Good player & I would love him to stay, but would hate to put all our eggs in this one basket at the expense of another younger Grade A striker who would have a decent resale value........

 

[OmarsComing]

PLS SIGN HIM ASAP

 

[jamesc0le]

I think he started off linking well with the wide men but he certainly didn't really have a relationship with VDV. Yes we saw them link up against Fulham but there was never a real connection between the two of them IMO.

rafa and ade are both maverick forwards (seemingly) how can anyone form a partnership with them as they drift all over the place. it hasn't been entirely unsuccesful. defences must hate it. then bale started doing his thing and there were 3 drifters. only spurs can get away with such loose tactics a template for success?

 

[RJ1882]

I might be harsh considering the season he has had, but I expected more from him. I expected him to dominate defenders like he dominated us for years. I always thought he was overrated at Arsenal and City, but he always pissed all over us. He was always a physical handful. He doesnt do that for us though. He doesnt play the commanding CF role. I thought he'd be our Drogba, focal point of all atttacks. But he has played differently to how I'd imagined he would. He drifts so much more than I ever thought. Gets involved in play far too deep and far too wide.
If he stays, I'd love Harry or whoever is in charge to tell him to lead the line, stay central more than he does, get on the end of much more of Bale and Lennons crosses. He should be scoring more, in more games. Did he manage to score in every 1 in 3 games? Doubt it, as he ended up with 5 braces I think.

B+ for me this year. More goals next season required.

 

[shaqTHFC]

I think he started off linking well with the wide men but he certainly didn't really have a relationship with VDV. Yes we saw them link up against Fulham but there was never a real connection between the two of them IMO.

Yet Rafa himself said he has a great understanding with Ade and he loves playing with him.