Arsenal have signalled their intent to keep Emmanuel
Adebayor by rejecting an offer of £24 million from Barcelona. Joan
Laporta, the president of the Catalan club, had hoped to complete a
deal for the Togo forward before a vote of no-confidence from club
members on Sunday, but he is likely to have to make an offer closer
to £30 million for Arsenal to consider a deal.
During all his discussions with the club, Adebayor has told
Arsenal, where he has three years left on his contract, that he
wants to stay, but that they must keep to a promise of a new deal
as a reward for an outstanding season. Adebayor scored 30 goals
during the campaign, showing the promise that was expected when he
joined from AS Monaco for £4.2 million in 2006.
Stéphane Courbis, the player’s agent, is expected to meet Arsène
Wenger, the Arsenal manager, this week, after the pair held talks
in Vienna last Friday. “Since the beginning, there has been a love
story between Adebayor and Arsenal and his relationship with Wenger
is based on trust and respect,” Courbis said.
“Emmanuel is a man of heart, not of money. He is not greedy. He
is a kid from the street, has sensibilities and is humble. If this
was a money problem, then he would have asked to leave. I know that
Arsenal’s political position is that they don’t pay high
salaries.”
Arsenal have offered Adebayor a contract worth about £45,000 a
week, but may not wish to increase this because they are prepared
to sell him. Arsenal’s dilemma is that Adebayor could argue that he
should be paid in accordance with their £30 million valuation. This
would mean offering more than £60,000 a week.