WENGER told Milan to ‘Fax Off’ in their pursuit of Adebayor

zocoss SG

Barcelona will try to steal a march on AC Milan in the race to sign Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor after club president Joan Laporta sanctioned a £24million transfer kitty to land the prolific Togo striker.

New Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola views the powerful forward as a key part of his rebuilding programme. He said: 'We want a No 9; we need one to complement Henry and Bojan. We want three up there competing and some of the names in the papers have been very good.'

Adebayor has made no secret of his admiration for Barcelona while his demands for a £80,000-a-week deal at Arsenal have received short shrift. Adebayor is on record as saying: There is not a player who could say no to Barcelona. If Barcelona make an offer for me and reach an agreement with Arsenal, I would be delighted to go there.'

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said he is determined to keep the striker, but a £17m profit on a player he signed from Monaco two-and-a-half years ago could bring about a change of heart, especially given the tight wage structure at The Emirates.

Guardiola also wants Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb, though the Catalan side are becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of movement on a deal after making a £12m bid at the weekend.

They could turn their attention instead to Sao Paulo's Brazil midfielder Anderson Hernanes, but it seems Barcelona will not be so easily swayed from their pursuit of Adebayor. Matching Adebayor's wage demands would not present a problem to Barcelona given the saving they will make once Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Deco depart.

Another departure from North London could be Tottenham striker Darren Bent, with Sunderland manager Roy Keane ready to step up his interest after learning Kenwyne Jones could be sidelined for up to nine months with a knee injury.

Keane has £50m at his disposal and is prepared to bid around £12m for a player who cost Spurs £16.5m last year. But Keane knows it will be difficult to persuade Spurs to part for such a loss, especially with Dimitar Berbatov's future in doubt.

Sunderland's North East rivals, Newcastle, have been rebuffed in a £2m move for Bent's team-mate Pascal Chimbonda. The former Wigan defender has been a long-term target for Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan.

a-Lost-9uY SG

i believe AW will sell him

zocoss SG

If he sells him then where is going to find another 30 goals striker...

haoguanghg SG

We all thought Arsenal would crumble without Henry, but they were fine. So I think Wenger will still make Arsenal a 'Top 4' club without Adebayor.

SiMiLaiEh* SG

his 30 goal is a fluke, he cant score dat much wan...all credit only goes to our supply from midfiled and 2 fullbacks,dats y any striker dats come to play 4 arsenal will score de same amount or maybe more

i duno why AW still keeps him..the price is Right~

2cansam SG

Hmm....I believe Arsenal will have no problem moulding another of its strikers into a world class one should Adebayor leave

reyes SG

van perise is a half season player.

eduardo is injured and could miss the first half of season.

bendthner, wow you wouldnt bet he another 30 goal player.

AW should buy another striker first, then sell adebayor, in that case, he will not be held ransom by the selling club.

zocoss SG

ARSENE WENGER has told AC Milan to ‘Fax Off’ in their pursuit of Arsenal hitman Emmanuel Adebayor.

SunSport can reveal that Gunners boss Wenger sent a message to the Italian club, telling them Adebayor is NOT for sale. Officials at Milan’s head office were shocked when they received a fax personally signed by Wenger. In it, the Frenchman told them exactly what they could do with any bid for his Togo goal ace.

A senior source at the San Siro said: “It was quite bizarre. A fax arrived signed by Wenger in which he warned us against any bid for Adebayor. “It went on to say that the player ‘is not for sale — not for money or gold’.”

Wenger is furious his star forward has become a wanted man for both Milan and Spanish giants Barcelona. But Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani is convinced Barca have ALREADY agreed a deal with Adebayor, 24.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta is poised to offer Arsenal £25million for the player. They will finance his signing from the sale of Deco, Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho — who are all wanted by Chelsea, as SunSport revealed last week.

New Barca coach Pep Guardiola yesterday confirmed the big-name trio will leave the Nou Camp this summer. Guardiola said: “All of the players in the first-team squad last season are of a very high level. “But with the technical secretary we are forming a squad and Deco, Ronaldinho and Eto’o are not in our minds.”

Adebayor IS very much in their minds, though. And Barca expect him to request a transfer from the Emirates to clinch the move. That means Milan will divert their attention back to Chelsea hitman Didier Drogba.

An initial fee of £18m for Drogba was agreed with the Blues last week but has since been withdrawn. Chelsea have so far failed to secure the signature of either Eto’o or their other main strike target — Valencia’s David Villa, who is setting Euro 2008 alight with Spain.

And while they are keen to see Drogba, 30, move on they will not sanction his switch until they are confident of having a replacement lined up. The Stamford Bridge club are hopeful of agreeing a new fee for the Ivory Coast international with Milan.

As Wenger issued his ‘hands off’ warning to Milan over Adebayor, he also continued his building plans for the future. The Gunners chief is close to signing his second teenager this month after asking Plymouth about 15-year-old strike prodigy Aaron Spear.

Now he wants £1m-rated Spear, who has already held talks with Newcastle executive director Dennis Wise and also interests Portsmouth.