Adebayor wants £120,000 a week or he goes. Take the money and run Mr Wenger

By 1970’s Gooner

Adebayor has got some cheek really. He has hardly established himself at Arsenal after one full season as a main striker and now he is demanding a staggering £120,000 per week to stay!

“I have asked Arsenal to look at it and see what they want. “I have a promise from the manager Arsene Wenger that they will call me next week. I am waiting for their answer and next week I will decide” he said yesterday.

He obviously thinks should Arsenal decide not to pay that much money (and who can blame them) that he can repeat the 24 goals he scored in the League last season for AC Milan or Barcelona.

He is also showing no loyalty whatsoever to the club and the man that plugged him out of relative obscurity in France and gave him the chance to shine.

Wenger could have gone out and bought a direct replacement for Henry when he left but instead chose to promote Adebayor.

What Adebayor has to realise is that there is no way that he will be able to repeat his goal scoring feats for another club as well as he has done for Arsenal.

For a start the age old saying that it’s the team as a whole that creates the scoring opportunities will come into force.

And it is so true at Arsenal where most goals scored are a result of slick interplay and movement from the rest of the players especially from the little maestro, Fabregas.

If Adebayor thinks that he will be given so many chances to score with his new club, whichever that is, he is living in cloud cuckoo land.

Go and ask Thierry Henry Mr Adebayor and you will find out.

At least Henry had reached an age where he felt he needed to move so as to play and try and win honours with another big club.

Adebayor is only 24 and has a lot of time to do that, if indeed he has not won anything in the next few years with Arsenal.

Hell, Fabregas and the other Arsenal stars like Robin Van Persie will indeed begin to get restless if that happens too. And in my opinion they will be, in a way, justified.

Take the money and run Mr Wenger. We have after all paid only £7m for him and now we are offered around £23m!

This team that you have built will create chances for anyone that plays as a main striker; and he will I am sure score those 24 goals and even more.

I have declared myself a supporter of the idea of not buying a direct replacement for Adebayor and promoting Van Persie in the main striker’s role.

He will not, I am sure, need so many chances to score.

During the 2006/2007 season, when he was a little bit more fit than last season, he had a similar ratio of goals to shots on target as Adebayor had this last season.

This was a ratio of 44%. He also had a similar goals to shots ratio of 21% vs Ade’s of 23%.

He was however not playing as a main striker then as Adebayor has this last season.

Van Persie can do the business alright as long as stays fit that is. But even if he doesn’t we have Eduardo.

Eduardo IS going to make it for pre season (as we have first reported on this site) and WILL feature in the first team without too much of a fear of going into a tackle.

His psychological built up and character, I am told by my Croatian friends, is such that he will not be fazed that much by tackle threatening opponents.

But I would also like to see another wide player with experience brought in that can also play in the middle so as to offer more maturity up front and especially cover when needed.

And additionally there is Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner who have shown that they have the credentials to contribute substantially this coming season. And don’t forget Carlos Vela who will feature in the first team; he is that good.

As Wenger has recently said:

'It doesn't look like we have no team and we have to build a team. 'We were unbeaten at home and that is only the second time in the history of the club.

'We have done that with young players who will be better next season'.

I think that, in football as in life, we should not underestimate the process of learning and the beneficial effects it has especially on young and talented footballers.


Arsene’s revised transfer plans?