If Teams are Interested in Signing Emmanuel Adebayor, they Have to Help Spurs Pay His Wages
Emmanuel Adebayor wants to play football again, but it won’t be with Spurs. Who Adebayor plays for however; his new team must work with Daniel Levy to help pay his wages.
An exclusive report by the Telegraph states that the 31-year-old Togolese striker still receives £100,000-a-week despite being released on September 13, 2015 after Tottenham Hotspur couldn’t agree to a move with another Premier League club (Aston Villa and West Ham United) due to differing reasons.
For Aston Villa, Tim Sherwood who was still the manager at the time, wanted to sign Adebayor with the much maligned striker wanting to join the Villians but preferred to stay in London while driving to Birmingham everyday. This is a big problem considering how far Tottenham is to Birmingham by car (two hours and six minutes according to Google Maps, so a four hour drive round trip). Another reason was Adebayor asking God for advice if Villa was a good choice. Apparently God said no?
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When it came to joining West Ham United, a transfer between both clubs could have happened last winter and this past summer but it had to do with the high wages that Emmanuel Adebayor was on — which every club doesn’t want to touch for obvious reasons. Plus, Adebayor wasn’t fit to play since he hadn’t gotten any playing time during both of West Ham’s attempts to sign him. Anyways, the transfer negotiations broke down and the Togo international remained with Spurs before being released.
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Now the term much maligned is perfectly used here. As a player, Emmanuel Adebayor didn’t perform well on the pitch last season, there’s no arguing that. But at the same time, since signing with Tottenham, Adebayor put up solid numbers in his Spurs career: 113 appearances, 42 goals and 20 assists in all competitions.
Off the pitch, personal issues are out of his control, so no one can criticize him on that front. It’s not easy to focus during games with family issues on your mind which is why Mauricio Pochettino played Adebayor less and less behind Harry Kane (who earned the right to become the new striker) and even behind Roberto Soldado (who worked hard but suffered from a shattered confidence).
With that said, it was the right move for Spurs to make, when they chose to let go of Adebayor if he couldn’t produce on game days. And especially if he didn’t want to become a backup or third-choice striker — despite getting paid £100,000-a-week regardless if he’s starting or not. Since he was still a part of Mauricio Pochettino’s 25-man squad for the rest of the 2014-15 season.
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Back to the Telegraph article from above, if Emmanuel Adebayor is trying to re-start his Premier League career, not only will it be hard to achieve with his high weekly wages being paid by Spurs in full, but no other team would want to subsidize a portion of it.
Nor would any rival club of Spurs work with Daniel Levy to begin with, due to the 53-year-old chairman proving to be a very hard negotiator to work with if transfer deals are anything to go by.
Should a team sign the 31-year-old striker, Emmanuel Adebayor’s wages would be paid by two separate clubs until his current contract runs out with Spurs next summer. Once Adebayor’s contract with Tottenham expires, the club that signed the Togo international would pay the rest of his wages. If no club signs Adebayor then his contract with the Lilywhites will still expire at the end of this season under the terms of his exit back in September and then both parties can finally move on.
However there are currently two clubs who are interested in signing Emmanuel Adebayor, which Matt Law and Jason Burt of the Telegraph talked about in detail:
"Watford have so far shown the strongest interest in Adebayor, holding talks with his representatives and inviting him to train at the club on November 1, but the 31-year-old opted to stay in Togo for an extra month.Adebayor has now returned to England to search for a new club. Chelsea is his preferred destination, but Watford could quickly resume talks with a view to getting him in for training as soon as possible.Manager Enrique Sánchez Flores is keen to sign Adebayor and boost his striking options, but it remains to be seen how much Watford would be prepared to pay of Adebayor’s wages, or whether a deal can be struck with Levy over which club pays the higher percentage.Negotiations with Levy could prove even more problematic for Chelsea, whose manager José Mourinho is a big fan of Adebayor who he had on loan at Real Madrid.Chelsea are currently assessing their potential January transfer targets and Adebayor would represent a short-term option as back-up for Diego Costa.But Chelsea do not enjoy a good relationship with Spurs and Levy would almost certainly demand that the Blues took over Adebayor’s wages in full for him to play out the season at Stamford Bridge."
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Whatever happens to Emmanuel Adebayor and playing football again, it’s clear that Tottenham will continue to pay his £100,000-a-week until his contract expires next summer. The only difference would be the amount that Spurs would have to pay if a club — Watford or Chelsea — decides to sign the Togo striker. In any event, this is something that Tottenham agreed to deal with and so far have had no problems even if a lot of money is being wasted on a player who is no longer with the club.