Adebayor is much better than Roque Santa Cruz
22 comments August 2nd, 2008
That is my immediate reaction to the news that the big man is staying. Perhaps the most surprising thing about that story is that someone was actually able to transcribe an interview with the machine gun-mouthed forward.
It’s looked for some time now that both Milan and Barcelona’s interest in Ade was waning, and that he might be forced to return to Arsenal with his proverbial tail between his long legs. Now, with fears that Adebayor could be booed at tomorrow’s Emirates Cup, the club have decided to announced that he will sign a new deal (expected to expire in 2013) within days. Arsene Wenger is hoping the supporters will be forgiving:
“What is very damaging sometimes is that the player gets bad publicity against his own fans for things he has not said. That is sometimes difficult to repair. There is disappointment from the fans because they feel the player wants to go. But all I can say is that when I was face-to-face with him he always said his priority was to stay at the Club. And I told him that he has got his priorities right.â€
Adebayor has caused an awful lot of trouble this Summer. It’s impossible to say whether or not the stories originated from the player, his agent, or the clubs trying to win his signature. But what we can say for certain is that he was offered a huge wage hike by both Barcelona and AC Milan, and used it to try and push Arsenal into offering him equivalent terms. When the interest dropped away, Adebayor was left in limbo, and has probably now accepted a much smaller wage rise than he originally demanded.
We’ll never know if he wanted to leave the club, or was just part of the most clumsy contract negotiations in recent memory. What we do now know is that he’s staying, and from a footballing perspective, I think it’s a good thing. Adebayor was absolutely vital to our relative success last season, and I believe we’re better off with him than many of the potential replacements mentioned, such as Santa Cruz.
I think the fans will forgive Adebayor if he shows the same dedication on the pitch as he has until this point in his Arsenal career. If he doesn’t, it’ll be a different story entirely. The ball is now firmly in his court.
So Adebayor will stay, and William Gallas will remain as club captain. I would not be surprised to see Cesc Fabregas appointed as his Vice ahead of Kolo Toure – whilst Kolo is a loyal servant, Cesc is the more natural leader and obvious successor to Gallas.
Today we play Juventus ahead of tomorrow’s tie with Real Madrid. Both are very glamorous fixtures and could tell us plenty about how our new-look side, featuring the exciting Samir Nasri, could fare this season. Proper football is creeping ever closer…
