84 THE PREM ERA

of the best

EmmanuelADEBAYOR

Alookbackatsomeofthemoststunningtransfers

from the last 15 years of the Premier League

THE TRANSFERS

£25m

Arsenal to Manchester City

Summer 2009

The Manchester City and Togo striker sat

down with World Soccer to discuss why he

moved to Eastlands from North London.

Interview by Pedro Pinto

Why did you leave Arsenal?

It was a very difficult decision because

I didn’t want to leave Arsenal, to be

honest. But they told me that they had

an agreement with Manchester City and,

whether I liked it or not, I had to leave.

I was like: “I’m not leaving!” But at the end

of the day, when I had a good discussion

with the boss, I realised that he was trying

to tell me. What didn’t come out straight

from his mouth is: if I stayed, I would not

have a chance to play. But for me, there

is nothing other than playing football.

So you went to Manchester City. What

did they tell you about their ambitions?

We have a chance to bring up this team and

make it one of the best in the world. That’s

why they brought in players like Carlos Tevez,

Gareth Barry, Kolo Toure and myself. People

treat me very well because I needed an

ambition, I needed to write my own history,

because I knew even if I stayed at Arsenal

I couldn’t play. And I couldn’t make my own

history there because a lot of big, big players,

big names have passed before me.

Can Manchester City break into the

top four this season and qualify for

the Champions League?

Why not? We’ve got Barry, a world-class

midfielder; we have Stephen Ireland, one of

the best midfielders in the world; we’ve got

Craig Bellamy, he’s on fire at the moment.

Tevez, myself, Robinho, Benjani [Mwaruwari]

is coming back. I think, if those players are fit,

why not? At the moment, it’s good. You can

see that all the big four are struggling

a little bit. This year everything is open.

The 2009-10 season was only a few

weeks old when Adebayor – along with

his fellow former Gunner, Kolo Toure, who

had followed him to Manchester – faced

his former club at the City of Manchester

Stadium. Considered a money-grabbing

traitor by the visiting fans, the striker was

subjected to a cacophony of boos with

every touch by the away supporters.

It felt somewhat inevitable, then, that

in the 80th minute it was Adebayor who

rose highest to head home a cross and

put his new club 3-1 up. What came

next was less predictable.

Uninterested in the often-seen

restrained, dignified celebration against

a player’s former club, Adebayor instead

ran the full length of the pitch to slide in

front of the Arsenal fans, inciting further

outrage.

“Yeah for sure [I lost my head],” he said

afterwards.“The emotions took over, the

frustration came out of me and I feel

sorry for what I have done.”

“I have made a big mistake today.”

Adebayor ended the campaign with14

goals, but byJanuary 2011hehadfallen

out of favour and joined Real Madrid on

loan. In the following August he cemented

his status as a villain in the eyes of Arsenal

fans by joining arch-rivals Tottenham.

WHAT CAME NEXT...

Transfers that stunned

the Premier League

6