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| Emmanuel Adebayo |
Emmanuel Adebayor killed off any chance of
playing football again before January after rejecting a Tottenham
Hotspur pay-off and turning down a host of summer moves on the advice of
his pastor.
The future of Adebayor has been one of the sagas of the summer and
Telegraph Sport can reveal that he not only demanded huge money to leave
Spurs, but also pulled out of a move to Aston Villa because he claimed
he needed a sign from God.
Tottenham were desperate to offload Adebayor this summer and made the
striker a deadline-day offer to cancel the remaining year of his
£100,000-a-week contract, so that he could join a new club as a free
agent.
But Adebayor initially rejected Tottenham’s offer, insisting that he would only leave if his contract was paid up front and in full, which would have cost the club around £5million.
Spurs were willing to pay Adebayor his £100,000-a-week wages until such time as he found a new club and supplement any shortfall he incurred by playing elsewhere, but refused to cave in to his sky-high demands.
With minutes of the transfer window remaining, Adebayor is understood to have signed the contract termination paper on Tottenham’s terms but changed his mind at the last minute and ruined any hopes of a move.
The stand-off means that even if Tottenham and Adebayor come to an arrangement to cancel his contract in the coming weeks or months, the Togo international will not be able to play for another club until January.
Adebayor has been completely frozen out at White Hart Lane this season, having been stripped of his squad number and forced to train with the Spurs Under-21s. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino has made it clear there is no way back for the former Arsenal and Manchester City man.
The 31-year-old had been close to joining Aston Villa at the end of July, but stunned Villa officials when, having completed a medical and posed for pictures in the club’s shirt, he stalled on the deal by claiming that he wanted a sign from God that it would be the correct move.
Adebayor is understood to have then consulted his pastor over the prospect of moving to the Midlands before finally deciding against the switch, much to the frustration of Villa manager Tim Sherwood.
West Ham last week made Adebayor an offer to move to Upton Park on loan,
but the former Arsenal man did not turn up for a scheduled medical,
leaving Hammers and Spurs officials in the dark over his whereabouts,
and requested more time to think about the switch.
By the time Adebayor finally agreed to meet with West Ham manager Slaven Bilic on Monday, the Hammers were already finalising their second Premier League loan in the form of Victor Moses from Chelsea.
That meant Adebayor’s only hope of joining the Hammers before January was to agree a pay-off with Tottenham, but that proved to be impossible.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy may now be regretting his decision to stop Adebayor joining West Ham on loan in last season’s January transfer window.
Adebayor was last season granted compassionate leave by Spurs to sort out family difficulties and the player made accusations against his brother on Facebook.
There are now fears within White Hart Lane that Adebayor is happy to see out the final year of his contract even if it means he does not play any football for the entire season.
Other than West Ham and Villa, Galatasaray and Celtic also showed an interest in Adebayor this summer but his latest saga may well see all his suitors put off when the transfer window reopens in January 2016.
But Adebayor initially rejected Tottenham’s offer, insisting that he would only leave if his contract was paid up front and in full, which would have cost the club around £5million.
Spurs were willing to pay Adebayor his £100,000-a-week wages until such time as he found a new club and supplement any shortfall he incurred by playing elsewhere, but refused to cave in to his sky-high demands.
With minutes of the transfer window remaining, Adebayor is understood to have signed the contract termination paper on Tottenham’s terms but changed his mind at the last minute and ruined any hopes of a move.
The stand-off means that even if Tottenham and Adebayor come to an arrangement to cancel his contract in the coming weeks or months, the Togo international will not be able to play for another club until January.
Adebayor has been completely frozen out at White Hart Lane this season, having been stripped of his squad number and forced to train with the Spurs Under-21s. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino has made it clear there is no way back for the former Arsenal and Manchester City man.
The 31-year-old had been close to joining Aston Villa at the end of July, but stunned Villa officials when, having completed a medical and posed for pictures in the club’s shirt, he stalled on the deal by claiming that he wanted a sign from God that it would be the correct move.
Adebayor is understood to have then consulted his pastor over the prospect of moving to the Midlands before finally deciding against the switch, much to the frustration of Villa manager Tim Sherwood.
By the time Adebayor finally agreed to meet with West Ham manager Slaven Bilic on Monday, the Hammers were already finalising their second Premier League loan in the form of Victor Moses from Chelsea.
That meant Adebayor’s only hope of joining the Hammers before January was to agree a pay-off with Tottenham, but that proved to be impossible.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy may now be regretting his decision to stop Adebayor joining West Ham on loan in last season’s January transfer window.
Adebayor was last season granted compassionate leave by Spurs to sort out family difficulties and the player made accusations against his brother on Facebook.
There are now fears within White Hart Lane that Adebayor is happy to see out the final year of his contract even if it means he does not play any football for the entire season.
Other than West Ham and Villa, Galatasaray and Celtic also showed an interest in Adebayor this summer but his latest saga may well see all his suitors put off when the transfer window reopens in January 2016.
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