Adebayor Reportedly in Manchester Talking Terms (UPDATE)
By: Martin | July 14th, 2009So says The Guardian Online, anyway. Apparently the big man from Togo is in beautiful, scenic Manchester discussing terms, which are reportedly in the neighborhood of £150,000-170,000 a week. Can’t imagine that will be a sticking point, since that’s roughly twice what he’s making in North London. You gotta love football–a player stops trying the season after getting a big contract, scores half as many goals as the previous season, and gets rewarded by getting a contract for twice the money.
The deal is reported to be worth £25 million in transfer fees. Who knows if this is legit or just a rumor, but the Guardian is somewhat more reliable than some of the other sources which repeatedly fabricate transfer rumors. But I, for one, hope it goes through, provided we use that cash on the team. I think Travis’ proposal of using the cash on Marouane Chamakh from Bordeaux plus a holding midfielder is a capital idea, and would improve the squad. Alternatively, we could probably get Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Real Madrid for less £25 million, and I think he’s a better striker than Adebayor. So we would improve the squad and make a profit.
Also, Thad over at Man City Offside has some very funny insight into exactly how Manchester City is going to use all these strikers.
Updates to come as it happens…
UPDATE: Mark Hughes has confirmed he is in talks with Arsenal about Adebayor.
FURTHER UPDATE: There is reportedly a work permit hearing for Adebayor in Manchester tomorrow, which will finalize the deal, according to Sky Sports.
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I think the boss should take a look at Mirko Vucinic. The dude’s good.
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Homey: Hum out of the top 4? I don’t think so. SAF is still there and the likes of Rooney, Anderson and Fabio Silva will make sure to give the team some boost. Plus, even thought I don’t value him so much, Nani might do more come backs.
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Ok adimente, if you go along with my statement that Arsenal gets their ducks in a row for this season, then who is outside the top 4? I think City is building a strong case that they’ll make the top 4 this year. I’m just saying there’s more of a chance Man Utd is outside the top 4, unless they make another couple of signings.
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I think Wenger did in fact once say some things publicly about liking Vucinic….he does seem like a good match.
Losing Adebayor would be HUGE. He’s kind of like a tall, target-man Eto’o. When he wants to be, he’s the best striker in the world, even if he does miss a hundred chances before scoring the most difficult opportunity. He’s very important for the upcoming season.
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In fact if there’s been any agreement on Arsenal’s end, I’m very surprised. I’d think we’d have a bit more fight for him because he’s undoubtedly our #2 up front, just behind RvP (and that could easily change, remember he was undoubtedly our #1 up front the previous season). Really, behind him, we aren’t exactly brimming with quality at CF.
If RvP is linkman, then who plays full-out striker? Walcott’s still some time away and still much better on the wing. Bendtner? Maybe but he has a LOT to prove and I’m not ready to bank on it. Arshavin? Much more valuable on the wing, and that position isn’t terribly deep without him. Besides if you do put him up front, you make RvP full-out striker, not the other way around. And what if RvP gets hurt?
We can’t just assume that a sale would mean the ability to buy a new player. It’ll be very difficult to find a quality striker the way the market is right now for only the Adebayor money. We don’t need a drawn-out transfer saga for a player that needs time to adjust to the system (don’t say Arshavin, we can’t expect immediate adaptation again; that was a one-off), we just need Adebayor.
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I can’t say Huntelaar is better than Adebayor by any stretch of the imagination. We’re talking about a young kid who made his name in a shrinking (but good) team in a shrinking (but good) league, who went to Real Madrid and stunk the place up. I liked him before the move…potential is always good…but he looked way out of his depth in Spain. How will he look in England? I prefer to stick with our man, because I don’t doubt him. He has something to prove this season and dammit if he doesn’t prove it, as he did in 07-08.
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Dude, I still don’t see City as a strong case for breaking top four; you can sign as many strikers as you want, but you need to cover more positions. City obviously models itself after chelsea, except Chelsea is stacked all the way around. I hate them, but they’ll be benching players like Mikel and Joe Cole.
As for City, they just reported that Kompany will still be injured at the beginning of the season. Barry and Bellamy are not the kind of players that will simply push you into the top four once added into your squad.
I think Everton will be the dark horse.
Vucinic would be clutch. I’m still saying Zapata for the backline, as well as capitalize on Madrid and grab for Álvaro Negredo or M. Diarra from Madrid. Jérémy Toulalan! Splash the cash for De Rossi. Or make a big money move for Alonso or Lorik Cana from Marseille. Sorry for the stream-of-consciousness here, I’m in complete rapture thinking about us getting so much for such little Ade!
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Chuck… Dude, City isn’t over by any means. I still figure they’ll add someone like Terry or Puyol or whoever else. They’ll certainly add to the back and maybe even more in the midfield. You can talk all you want about how they have no history, but that’s basically where Chelsea was a few years ago. If you spend enough money, you will have a solid team. Again, I’m not saying I’m sure City will crack the top 4. Just saying they’ve got a strong chance to do about whatever they want. And I still say that as things stand now, there’s a chance Man Utd is 5th next season.
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Man U has Ferguson, I would love to see them in 5th, but still… As per Alexinho comments, chapeau, well written. I was under the impression that we could survive, but you are right, all the strikers mentioned they’re not “puntas”. What about good old Eduardo? will he be up to the challenge or is he still injured?
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huntelaar scored 8 in 20 at real, not bad for a new team. I would love to see him, and also chamakh would be very cheap us, 7 million pounds, he’s got potential and from what i hear he has great movement. One thing about Adebayor was he had awful positioning, he would get caught offside more than any player on our team, especially on long balls from the back, and the back lines that played against us knew this. It was a very easily exploited weakness.
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Can anyone answer why we haven’t heard any of the bigger clubs talking about Mounir El Hamdaoui? I’ll admit I’ve never seen him play. I heard a rumor about him a long while back, but nothing since. The guy scored 24 goals in 34 games last year, and led AZ Alkmaar to the Dutch title. He just turned 25. Someone help me out here.
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El Hamdaoui isn’t getting much play because he didn’t have that great a run in the Premiership. If my memory serves me correctly, he flopped at Tottenham and then was loaned out before being traded back to the Dutch league. Also, he plays alongside Dembele, who Wenger has been tracking for a couple years now. I imagine, he’s overshadowed Hamadaoui.
Homey, I don’t think Man U will peter off this fast. They will have a rough season yes, but they always start slow (and they also seem to get good draws; I think their first few games are against bottom-of-the-tables this year). It’s very hard to imagine them falling apart like that. Berbatov will come into form (as he’s just too good). Hargreaves will probably be healthy, and Nani or Anderson may (both) rise to the occasion. Valencia is a good signing and they may still pick up Douglas Costa (who I believe could turn out for them too). Rooney will have a great season too. Not a fan of his, but he’s just so good.
The difference between Chelsea and City is that the Sheikh seems to have full reign on the signings, where Abrahmovich seems to give a fair amount of control to the manager (with Mourinho, all the star African talent comes in with Drogba, Kalou, Mikel, Essien, and also Carvalho from Portugal; with Scolari, Deco and Bosingwa). Abramovich got his picks that definitely don’t fit into many of Chelsea’s manager’s conception of the team (think of how Ballack is just a clone of lampard, how Malouda was underutilized for such a long time, or how much money was wasted on shevi?). The oil-men owners at City just want the star players (who all happen to be strikers). Puyol will not leave Barca. Maybe John Terry though. City’s midfield just seems too weak (although I’m a huge fan of Kompany and De Jong) to make a good run for fourth in the Premiership. Hughes is also half the manager of either Mourinho, Scolari, or Hiddink.
Btw, does anyone think that this Adebayor thing might be Wenger’s way of punishing Ade for all the transfer drama that’s been following him the past couple summers. Imagine courting Milan for so long and ending up at some shit-hole like Man City.
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I know about how El Hamdaoui failed in England a while back. But maybe it just took him longer to figure it out. To me, 24 goals in 34 games for the Dutch champions speaks for itself. At least worth a look. Probably would only cost about half of what Ade is going to bring. I’d be happy with that.
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I would really be excited to get either Vucinic or Huntelaar as replacements for adebayor. they are both good, and in my opinion I see them better that Chamakh. by the way Alexinho said that Huntelaar is a young kid, he is not he’s 25, he has the experience and strength to play in the premier league, and yes he is better than adebayor. As for a holding midfielder I don’t know what our opinions are, Inler, cana, or D’Agostino would be good reasonable additions next to cesc fabregas.
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i hope win either the premier league or the champions league next season, or maybe both. it would be sooooo good!
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Good move by Arsenal but its a little too late they could have used it on Melo.
http://footballfraternity.wordpress.com/
its a done deal on this site.
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VUcinic i a hell of a player but Im not so sure he is what we need. We have plenty of small fast strikers- we need a target man for them to play off of. IMO its Eto’o or Huntelaar. I would be real worried if we didnt add anyone- Bendtner starting is a scary thought- and throw in an injury or two and that could be the season…
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adios togonator!
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Eto’o->Arsenal would certainly be interesting, but I don’t know if he’s the best fit for a 442. I’m trying to think of a comparison. Henry went to Barcelona and became effectively a winger, which tells me that our strikers do a great deal of running. Eto’o does not run a whole lot, certainly not like Henry did. But he is relatively unselfish compared to many other strikers and he’s always there to pass with when the team just gets the ball back. He doesn’t run with the ball in the way RvP, Henry, Eduardo, even Adebayor did/do. The most apt comparison to me, really, is Adebayor: creates lots of opportunities though he misses a lot, is a killer when he’s on, plays well outside and inside the box, distributes when there’s no opportunity. But he’s not a target man. He’s a beast on 433, but when he has to have a partnership with RvP at the business moments?
Still, he’s a much better option than Huntelaar. Someone on the Barca blog…yes, they’re talking about him too over there, but not much…pointed out that he doesn’t know how to play outside the box, plain and simple, and that just doesn’t cut it for Arsenal. If you’re a Gooner, the way I see it, you need to know your way across the field. Plus, as I said before, I just doubt he’s good enough. 8 goals in 20 appearances is alright, but the fashion of his play made him look way out of his depth. On the plus side, he may have something to prove.
At the end of the day I still think Adebayor should remain our man. Wenger’s been building a team, right?
I’ll have to look at this Chamakh guy, though…
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arsenal would NEVER give etoo the wages he wanted. keep dreaming
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btw ade granted work permit for shitty
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Hah!There’s many more years 2 wait ppl,cuz there’s no other team crakin da top spot other than man-u,cuz they always stand up &’ fight… so other teams can take a nap b4 their chance comes!now rivalrys apart.. I have noticed 1 thing every year dat many minnows &’ underdogs have managed 2 crack the top 4 @ da earlier haf of da season,for example wigan,reading,hull have all had da taste of da 2nd spot in their very 1st season @ da top flight,but they crash 2 da ground ven da top 4 start mounting presure,they prove 2 b uncapable 2 cope wit da pressur… may b becoz of da beter and desciplined training facilities and cardios of da top 4.. I have also noticed dat da playas of da top 4 have more stamina dat their counterparts…..
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Ruling out Tottenham hotspur is not gud,seen how they fought bak from da bottom of da table?they have got real quality and young gems in aeron lennon,pavlyuchenko,bent,modric,geovanni dos santos,jenas,huddlestone,keane,defoe….
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What an excellent blog, I’ve added your feed to my RSS reader.
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United States
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