Forget all the scaremongering and screaming headlines, yesterday’s statements from Adebayor is not all that confusing. Even more while no doubt Adebayor will only be thinking of the best move for himself rest assured that any decision will be positive for Arsenal.

Now this may sound counter-intuitive, but hear me out.

The First Statements

“You can see people changing clubs because of money, because they want a change of atmosphere or to get their names in the big leagues. I just play football to enjoy myself. I play because I love it.

“We all have the same ideas and we all want to achieve something. We have a good boss which is Arsene Wenger, he tries to bring this atmosphere to the dressing room where we feel like brothers and like family.”

“Those are the reasons that give us a chance to play the football we play. We play good football, now we look forward to winning trophies.”

“I am an Arsenal player and have three years left on my contract. The most important thing for me is to keep on enjoying my football. I’m staying at Arsenal.”

The contradiction

“I am a footballer, I have a three-year contract at Arsenal but as you know, a lot of clubs are interested in me,” he told Sky Sports News.

“At the moment we are just going to sit down and talk and decide what to do.

“Nothing has been decided yet. We will decide next week.”

In adittion the sun printed the followin quotes.

“If they’re going to get 50 million for me and they bought me for 10 million, everyone is getting the benefits.”

“They have to make a good decision and I have to make a good decision.”

“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.

“I need to know before I come back to train on July 21. At the moment, I am in a position that I don’t know where I will play.”

Here’s the crux of it, under normal circumstances Adebayor would not want to leave. This is indicated in the first statement, Ade is happy at Arsenal and would like to stay there. However this is football and nowhere close to being normal circumstances.

Milan has let it be known that they are desperate to sign Adebayor, but according to the player he has not yet sat down for any talks with Arsenal. This is where the hype and speculation is. The papers will have you believe that there is some sort of discussion going on and demands counterdemands have been made. This is not true.

The truth is with milan so desperate to get Adebayor, he realises that he has an opportunity to play hardball with Arsenal - as any straight thinking person would. It’s has been reported that Ade is only on £30k a week, is there anyone who will deny that under the current climate (his form last season and the desperation of Milan) that Adebayor is well within his rights to seek a salary increase?

Another question to ponder is this, if you we Arsene Wenger or Arsenal board wouldn’t you at least consider an offer of £30m for Adebayor.

The player says “If they’re going to get 50 million for me and they bought me for 10 million, everyone is getting the benefits.” obviously Arsenal won’t get 50 million but the point he making is a valid one.

And that’s why Adebayor is thinking about the club as much as himself. He knows that the figures going around is much more than what he is actually worth. While he brings a lot to team, it is also well recognised that any striker worth his salt can get 30 goals in a season for Arsenal playing as much as he did.

He knows that his form is as much down to the service he gets as to his ability, he knows that while his presence may be missed the job will get done. One just has to look at his good friend, Titi. Playing in another team means a change in style, formation, and opportunity. He will not be the same player on any other team.

If he leaves, Arsenal get’s a big transfer fee and will quickly get a class striker (Arsene has his targets in mind). If he stays Arsenal get to keep a class striker. For Arsenal it’s a win win situation.

Tags: Ade, Adebayor, Arsenal, arsene, contract, Milan, wenger

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 11:40 and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.