City slicker: Emmanuel Adebayor arrives at The City
of Manchester Stadium as a £25m signing
Manchester
City clinched the most spectacular signing
of the summer so far when Emmanuel Adebayor headed north last night
to complete a £25million move from Arsenal.
The arrival of Adebayor made up for an embarrassing 2-0 defeat
against South African side Orlando Pirates as City's Abu Dhabi
owners flexed their financial muscles once again.
City have now spent £130m in transfer fees alone during 2009 and
manager Mark Hughes will be heartened by the news that defensive
target Joleon Lescott has told Everton boss David Moyes he wants to
speak to them about a move to Eastlands.
Adebayor travelled to Manchester yesterday for a medical after a
nervy 24 hours in which City feared the striker was hankering after
a move to Chelsea. But the Togo striker's decision to join on wages
of around £170,000 a week proves the club are deadly serious about
breaking into the top four next season.
Hughes confirmed: 'Emmanuel has shown his quality over many
years. He is a proven scorer in the Premier League and for us it's
all about having different options and carrying a goal threat,
whoever we play. We have to get all our players to the right level
so that in any given game we have the right combinations.'
Having added Adebayor to three other attacking players signed in
this transfer window - Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry and Roque Santa
Cruz - Hughes will now turn his attention to defence.
City have already lodged two bids for Chelsea captain John
Terry. Although an initial £15m offer for
Everton's Lescott was turned down, the player is keen to
talk to Hughes about the City project where he would double his
wages to £100,000.
Warm welcome: Adebayor salutes City fans
While City fans lick their lips about what will happen
once they kick off their Premier League campaign at Blackburn on
August 15, their opening game of the galacticos era was a damp
squib in the unlikely setting of Polokwane, a town four hours north
of Johannesburg in an area better known for safari hunting than
sport.
The 18,000 supporters roared their approval as one of South
Africa's top teams, Orlando Pirates, gave City a lesson.
Although Hughes left several big guns out, and others like
Robinho and Micah Richards do not arrive for the three-game Vodacom
Challenge until next week, there was enough quality on show with
the likes of Stephen Ireland, Pablo Zabaleta, Michael Johnson and
Martin Petrov all starting.
Youngster Ben Mee conceded a 41stminute penalty which South
Africa World Cup hopeful Lucas Thwala converted. City's Valeri
Bojinov missed a sitter from six yards and Phenyo Mongala sealed
the 2-0 victory after 55 minutes.
Hughes said: 'You could tell our players were at different
levels of conditioning and that will improve as time goes on. We
have strengthened in midfield and attack in this window; defence is
the only area that needs to be added to and we will be
concentrating on that.'
Striker Craig Bellamy is relishing the fierce competition for
places. He said: 'This is my last chance to be part of a really big
club and have a real good end to my career. I knew when I signed in
January what could happen at City. I wanted to be part of it and I
still do. If I stay fit, I definitely believe I can fight for a
place.'
City hope Adebayor may join them later in the tour and Hughes
plans to play Tevez and Barry in the next game in Durban on
Tuesday.
They only arrived on Friday after a frantic promotional visit to
Abu Dhabi.
Hughes said: 'We are professionals and football is our business.
So it's exciting to see what lies ahead.'
