In the history of the modern game, very few strikers will blow as hot and cold as Emmanuel Adebayor has during his professional career. Adebayor is capable of the magnificent, whilst also at the same time, can easily be standing on the peripherals of the game, failing to make even the slightest of impact.
As his career wanes, the latter seems all the more common.
The perception of Emmanuel Adebayor has been of someone of a mercenary; quite happy to lay his hat wherever he calls home, as long as he gets a wage near the £100,000 a week bracket. He has no interest in loyalty and his only interest is to himself.
Well, of course, he is, he’s a footballer. But maybe his attitude is something that runs slightly deeper than what appears on the surface.
There is no doubting that on his day, Adebayor is, or was, depending on your current view on him, a big game player. His swivel and volley against Tottenham eight years ago for Arsenal was an extraordinary piece of skill which not many strikers of his size can possess.
In the 2007-08 season, he ended up with 30 goals in 48 Arsenal games, whilst the next season scored a very respectable 10 league goals in 26 games, but it was a step back. Still, no one was questioning his attitude then.
But money talks.
In 2009, Adebayor moved to Manchester City for around £25 million, with a contract reported to be around £175,000 a week. An astronomical figure, which even at that short time ago, would have been hard to get your head around.
A five-year contract for £175,000 a week. That adds up to £44.5 million over the course of that contract. If you’re being paid that figure, guaranteed, week in, week out, why wouldn’t you swan around all over the pitch if that’s the money you take home every seven days?
He hit 14 goals in his first City season, including scoring in four of his first five matches for the club. In his second season, he only hit five before being shipped out to Real Madrid on loan.
When it came to the point where City didn’t want him anymore, Tottenham took him on a successful loan deal, but when he made another permanent move to North London, all of a sudden he looked uninterested and a shadow of the self that scored 18 goals in his first season. The 2012-13 season? He only got eight.
Why?
It’s a well-known theory that Adebayor only works well when he’s got something to grind against and to be honest, it’s hard to argue against that theory.
However, this excellent interview a few years ago from The Express, where he was interviewed by Fabrice Muamba raises some interesting quotes from the man himself:
“I don’t know why people keep saying, ‘Ade’s always playing for a contract’. I never played for a contract. I always have a four- or five-year contract wherever I go to.
“I had just signed a big contract when I left Arsenal. I left Monaco after I had just signed a big contract.
“So I played for Arsenal for three years. So are you going to tell me that for three years I was looking for a contract all those three years? No. I had just signed a contract and the manager said to me, ‘Adebayor, I don’t need you anymore. You have to move on.’
“When I left Manchester City, I still had four years’ contract left. So what am I looking for? Am I looking for even more contract?
“My friend. If I sign a contract today that says I am worth £1m, tomorrow I want to be worth £2m. If they give me £2m, I want £10m. That is what football is about.
“In Africa, when I was younger, what was I playing for? I remember playing for bananas. I remember playing for water. I don’t play for a contract. I love the game.”
It isn’t Adebayor’s fault that he was offered ridiculous terms at City and it’s a stigma that has dogged him throughout his career. In an environment where footballers are entitled to seek moves elsewhere for more money, Adebayor is no exception.
The problem is, is that he’s not worth that sort of money anymore. He’s too inconsistent and there seems like some sort of mental block there, having only survived for a few seasons at a time before being moved on. It goes from a situation where fans are delighted to have the 31-year-old, to the point where they immediately turn on him and want him to leave.
That’s not a healthy environment for any player to be in and for that to happen on more than one occasion, takes its toll eventually.
Adebayor will be forever tainted by the associations of someone who has failed to live up to his potential. But in the current context of the football world and the huge amount of money in the game, he can’t be blamed for exploiting the system.
