“He put me where I am today, no doubt about that, but if he sells me, and what they are saying in the newspapers is right, they are going to get euros 50m (pounds 39.5m), maybe euros 60m for me and they bought me for euros 10m. So everyone is getting benefits. They have to make a good decision and I have to make a good decision as well. I had a dream of playing for Arsenal and Arsenal are one of the loveliest clubs in the world. When I go back to Africa it is obvious that a lot of people love the club. But now I have a chance of playing with one of the biggest clubs in the world [Barcelona, AC Milan, Tim]. I haven’t had a chance to speak to the manager yet. But we will sit down next week and decide what is good for my career. We will have to meet with the manager before anything can be decided, but, as you know better than anyone, a lot of teams want me to play for them. It will not be a difficult decision. I’m just going to sit down with my agent and with my family and decide what is good for my career. I have a promise from Arsene that they will call me next week because I asked them to look at my contract and see what they wanted to do. Now I am waiting and then I will decide.” – Emmanuel Adebayor, June 2008
“If I had the power to change anything in football, it would be the transfer system which makes mercenaries of players. If they are bad ones they stay. If they are good, they think only of leaving.” – Arsene Wenger, July 2008
Arsenal doubled his wages to £80k a week in August 2008.
“Emmanuel’s transfer saga and the fact he was wanted by all the clubs in Europe was not down to him, it was down to his performances. In the end, he has chosen to stay. Why should that on top turn against him? That is very hard for him to take. We have to be realistic. That he is wanted is an honour for Arsenal; that he has decided to stay is as well an honour and the fact that he made financial sacrifices is as well an honour for the club. On top of that, we turn against him? We have a story here that has been manipulated against him but just look at the facts. I have experience with many players and I can tell you that face to face, I have seen him many times and he always said that he wanted to stay. Of course, if you can earn 10 here and 130 there, you are ready to stay for 60 but not for 10. I like it when a player is not PR [savvy] because when they become PR, they always have the right behaviour outside and the wrong inside. I prefer the reverse situation, a guy who makes a few mistakes. When you know about PR, you are always in the shit as a manager. They always have a series of things that people want to hear and they never behave as they talk. I can give you plenty of examples but in Adebayor’s case, he maybe made PR mistakes but on what is really important, the way he trained, the way he worked, the way he behaved on a daily basis . . . he was a credit. We have to be intelligent enough inside, and the fans as well, to support him. He needs the fans to be behind him. He is always under pressure to score goals but we want him to feel relaxed and play football like he loves to.” – Arsene Wenger, August 2008
“Before I signed for Arsenal, I can remember people telling me I had a chance to win things. Now, I am empty-handed. I don’t have any reason to leave until I have got trophies. Arsenal put me where I am today, they make me one of the biggest strikers in the world and I have to pay them back. How am I going to pay them back? Make them win trophies. Next season, 100%, I am an Arsenal footballer.” – Emmanuel Adebayor, 7 May 2009.
Football: Adebayor may have played his last match for Arsenal, Dominic Fifield, The Guardian, 22 May 2009. Article shows that there was clearly pre-contact made between Adebayor’s reps and Manchester City as early as Spring 2009 and possibly Winter 2008. That’s despite the quote above. Also notable for Wenger’s links to Real Madrid and Ivan Gazidis insisting that Arsene Wenger would stay at the Arsenal. This must be one of the moments that another big club asked Wenger to come manage them.
Adebayor signs for Man City. “It made me feel really welcome and special and I can’t wait to play for City’s fans and show them what I can do,” said Adebayor. “I was born to play football and that is what I want to do. I have come here to make history for this club and those supporters. It is what the chairman and the manager told me that they want too and I can’t wait to get started.”
City paid Arsenal £25m, about £10m less than AC Milan and Barcelona reportedly offered the season before. City paid Adebayor wages of £150k a week. Which is an astronomical fee in 2019 and was beyond compare in 2009. The wages were so high that Adebayor publicly worried about how such a wage packet would be received back home in Togo.
Adebayor played 45 matches for Man City over 18 months. He scored 19 goals for Man City. He scored a famous goal in Manchester against Arsenal, after which he ran 100 yards and slid in front of the Arsenal away supporters. In that match he also stamped on Robin van Persie’s head.
In January 2010, Adebayor was loaned to Real Madrid after he was involved in a training ground fight with Kolo Toure. Some outlets suggested that Adebayor took a pay cut to join Real Madrid, coached by Jose Mourinho, but the BBC reported in 2012 that Man City were subsidizing his wages whilst he had been on loan to Real Madrid and then Tottenham Hotspurs. By the end of the 2011/12 season Adebayor’s wages were £175k a week.
Adebayor had played for three teams between 2009 and 2012. He had scored 45 goals in 104 appearances. He won his only career piece of silverware in this time, the Copa Del Rey at Real Madrid.
Sources: the Guardian, except as noted.
“Next season, 100%, I am an Arsenal footballer.”
After reading this at the time , I remember commenting on the old AA board that this quote made me 50% certain he was out the door. I was 50% less cynical then.
This is all where it really felt like it was going South with speed.
The “I want to win trophies” stuff is hilarious as well. The man basically demanded double the salary every 12 months. Incredible. There are also quotes where he complains that Arsenal don’t buy enough players to challenge for honors. Again. Incredible.
And Wenger had to buy Arshavin because Adebayor was basically out the door by January 2009.
Another thing I stumbled on was the Guardian linking Arsenal to Arshavin as far back as summer 2008 – as a replacement for Adebayor. I guess I wasn’t as tuned in to rumors as I could have been.
He was a funny guy. Not funny, haha. And certainly not intentionally funny.. But funny.
And, wow.
Arshavin. Eboue. Denilson. Flamini (don’t get me started). You had me in my Rosicky feels last week. It’s crazy how long ago these names seem. It’s almost hard to believe their highlights are in colo(u)r. The last decade has been pretty rough 30 years.
Adebayor used his talent to work hard and get to the big leagues. Once there, he decided he’d done enough and had no need to do more. He was right in a way. He got paid good money. That he didn’t make the most of his talent, didn’t forge great relationships and didn’t even win honours is a shame, but I doubt it bothers him at all. He got what he wanted. For him, he’s a winner at life. And much as I don’t like him or his attitude, I can’t find it within me to get too worked up about him either way.
Question – would it be possible to adopt a system similar to North American sports where you could certainly transfer (or trade for) players, but their contract remained attached to them… so long as it was to another club in the same country? (I’m guessing FIFA and/or UEFA would need to get involved to standardize terms if it was international transfers and that would be a bureaucratic nightmare). Would that cut down on players looking elsewhere if they knew there was no pay increase possible for as long as they were on their current contract? I would suppose it would mean a lot more players running down their contracts, but I don’t know why that would be a bad development, it would eliminate a lot of transfer porn. Just asking.
Honestly, the laws that govern labor in the EU are beyond perplexing to me. I think the main problem is that football is just an open business, unlike any sports in the USA. That makes these contracts just between the guy and the club.
Don’t US sports incentivise players to stay at their clubs even after their contract ends, by allowing them to pay more through cap exceptions?
A contract system where both player and clubs honour contracts would be great for us fans I think. But impossible to create the consensus amongst even the clubs, let alone the legal challenges from players and agents.
We’re stuck with what we have I’m afraid, and that’s fine too I suppose. I think the failure of FFP is more of an issue than the transfer market.
The NBA incentivizes players to stay in the way you describe. But they’re the only major US sport to do so. More often than not, professional athletes in the US are mercenaries, too. ‘Follow the money’ is universal.
Mate, you have great powers but with this comes great responsibility…Use your powers for good not to tear down/destroy
Rooney does exactly the same thing re wages in 2010 – media:Man U must accede to his wage demands if they have any ambition.
Wilshere goes to Westham because Arsenal wont meet his wage demands – Media silence
Ramsey going to Juve because Arsenal wont pay £400k/wk – Media: Arsenal are in chaos/mismanaged/how did not manage to keep him.
Ade wants 80k/wk after a 30 goal in 48 appearances season – Media:he is a mercenary..
Raheem Sterling’s message about how
the same behaviours are portrayed differently in different players is a lesson for me, you everyone..
I don’t see these things as equivalent.
Rooney – was absolutely pilloried for his wage demands and United were criticized for ‘rewarding his bad behavior.’ Also Rooney in 2010 had scored 132 goals for Man U. That’s 22 goals a season. And he was three time League winner, two league cups, and a Champions League winning medal.
Wilshere – I think the overwhelming response was “good riddance” and “he’s a player who failed”. I think that’s what I wrote anyway.
Ramsey – Ramsey has been with Arsenal for 10 years, Mate. He has worked his ass off, mate, and won Arsenal two trophies. As far as I can tell, everyone is sanguine about his departure because we recognize that the club can’t afford the wages Juventus paid, but also it’s not his fault that he’s earning that money because Arsenal offered him a huge deal and then reneged.
Adebayor: signs for Arsenal, plays ok, gets a huge pay increase, plays well for 6 months, scores 22 goals, demands double wages, Arsenal pay him double wages, plays like crap for a year, demands double the wages again on the basis of the work he’d put in a year ago, Arsenal sell him.
I’m not sure if I’m a big fan of the lecture tone or the none-too-subtle accusation that I’m being racist, mate.
Also, you can stop telling me how much you respect my work and then saying the exact opposite while accusing me of racism, mate.
I was starting to wonder if it was just me who found the whole “mate” business grating.
“I’m not sure if I’m a big fan of the lecture tone or the none-too-subtle accusation that I’m being racist, mate.“
Stop being racist, Tim. And stop picking on Adebayor who needed to double his salary every year ,so he could help his poor father stop washing elephants by hand, and instead open an automatic elephant wash.
Hahaha loollll. Tom, mate that was funny but you are pushing it with that comment a bit far mate.. come on..you know…
I don’t think I’m pushing it far enough, mate.
As a matter of fact , I think, Tim should get a Polish girlfriend ( forget the Brazilian ones). Not only will she have sex with him, but also, she will clean his house after sex and solve his tidying up issues.
Great!
This is the last time I’m trying to be helpful on here.
I give Tim some great advice and for my efforts I get stuck in moderation.
This is selective at best. Lots of players left Arsenal for higher wages in the space of a few years, including Adebayor, Nasri and van Persie, and by and large, we Arsenal fans declared every one of these 3 mercenaries. Note the very different ethnic backgrounds of those 3, by the way.
And Rooney? Really? The same Rooney who had a mob of fans camped outside his home after the first time he bullied United into a new contract? And all that while missing the context (of the “ambition” thing) that he was threatening a defection to City. Big players in England have their friends in the press, and those would be the people who stepped up to defend him. Everyone else broke out the pitchforks.
And with Wilshere, he said the club offered him a contract, on not the most optimal terms, and he was initially going to sign it, but then he opted not to. Word is that Emery wouldn’t give him any playing time guarantees and told him as much in a face-to-face, so he made the decision to walk himself.
Sorry..no intention of causing offence by using “mate”..I use it too much maybe…But the point is ALL players try to get a better/the best deal…so why are we just chatting about Ade..a bit unfair.
Mate, I disagree with you but that does not mean I dont see the quality/genius in your work.. We all disagree with so many people but doesn’t mean we dont respect..
Mate I am not acusing anyone of anything except myself of being a hypocrite. I love Xhaka, he can do no wrong in my eyes. I admit I am not objective when I assess his games. But in the next breath I am asking myself how Auba missed the penalty against Totts AND playing it over and over in my mind and no seeing his 17+ goals…We all have bias..If I accuse you of bias.. I am accusing you of being human. Let’s recognise our bias and not pass it off as objectivity.
Re Ramsey…mate he ran down his contract and bounced on a free…We got £25m for Ade…he didn’t run down the contract..Players thinking they could all cash in when Ozil got £300k/wk. You know it.Ramsey has every right to make the demand and the club the right to say no…Ramsey is a quality player…we will miss him..
Ramsey wasn’t demanding double wages every year. Ramsey gave us more than Adebayor did on the field. He’s represented us better. He’s won us things. He’s never going to play for Tottenham! He was willing to leave money on the table and sign with us before Raul pulled a powerplay out of his backside.
If you want to defend Adebayor, sure. He had a right to look out for No. 1. But there’s no need to bring other players into it when the situations were different (even Nasri didn’t down tools as consistently as Ade did) just to imply that it’s unfair or racially motivated to talk about Adebayor. Your ‘thou shalt not judge’ stance should apply to yourself first.
Shard, you make some sound points. I hold my hands up, you do win. But I will fight my corner. Listen mercenary is someone who is motivated by money, how good they are is not a factor. So you a saying maybe Ramsey contributed more/is a better player but that is not relevant to him being a mercenary or not. The fact that Ramsey has been at the club for longer does not mitigate him being a mercenary. In fact the fact that he has been there longer should mean he should have a greater affinity for the club and less likely to leave for money. He is also leaving on a free so Arsenal get nothing. Ade didn’t do that. Gareth Bale knew Real Madrid were after him but he signed a new contract so Tottenham would get a great deal. Luis Suarez knew a host of clubs were after him but signed a new contract so Liverpool would get a great deal. The same applies to Coutinho. We don’t know what Ramsey was asking. We do know he was asking for a wage that would make him one of the, if not the best paid player in Premiership history. Is that commensurate with his admittedly outstanding ability? Was Ade asking for that?? Listen guys my argument is that NEITHER Ade NOR Ramsey are mercenaries. But if Ade is a mercenary then so is Ramsey. Arguing Ade is a mercenary but Ramsey not is a really really hard sell. If you do argue that.. I will ask why??
By merc, you simply meant asking for the highest pay possible.
Well in that case, Adebayor is just a merc who takes a contract and goes on a holiday. Which is what Tim, pointed out correctly. Is that right? Of course not.
Ramsey on the other hand is a very hard-working merc. Who runs on the pitch and listens to his coach even if asked to play out on the wing or as a sub.
So maybe you might understand why we appreciate Ramsey the merc far more than Adebayor the merc?
Also Ramsey never kicked his ex-teammate deliberately in the head.
“Arguing Ade is a mercenary but Ramsey not is a really really hard sell.”
Who’s selling?This whole Ade vs Ramsey thing is your creation. No one drew that ridiculous parallel until you decided that the best way to defend Adebayor was to suggest that his skin colour was the reason he’s disliked. To do this, you misrepresented fan reaction to other players (of various ethnicities) leaving, the basic facts of what led to Ramsey’s departure, and ignore the actual substance of the criticism of Adebayor.
Nah mate, you’re the one selling.
“We don’t know what Ramsey was asking. We do know he was asking for a wage that would make him one of the, if not the best paid player in Premiership history.”
Source, mate?
In fact the more you look into it, the similarities between Ade and Ramsey close. Ade was 23 when he asked for his increase. Ramsey is 28 and wanted a 5 year deal at 400k/wk. Please let me know any player in history of football at 32 worth 400k/wk.. Ronaldo??..but Ade 150% mercenary and Ramsey definitely not.. Either both are or neither are mercenaries.. I am saying neither…If you say Ade and Ramsey not why..?
“Ramsey is 28 and wanted a 5 year deal at 400k/wk.”
Source, mate?
Shard mate, you are getting it now… I am chatting about Ramsey because why is everyone chatting about Ade being a mercenary and not talking about anyone else. That is not fair. You can not eulogise about Ramsey in one breath and then vilify Ade as a mercenary in another as the media do…. Why just chat about Ade as the mercenary from 10 years ago..why not all other players playing today and now…..? Maybe there is a valid one but no one has told me yet…Neither are mercenaries in my view but if Ade is Ramsey is unless there is something else going on…
But Ramsey was willing to sign the contract we offered him, wasn’t he? Per Ornstein, there was an agreement in place. We reneged.
And don’t give me those ridiculous ‘best paid in the premier league’ quotes unless you have solid sources for those claims. The contract we offered him was nowhere near ‘best paid in the prem.’ The most I’ve seen the contract valued at is 275k/week. For a midfielder whose numbers are comparable to Paul Pogba’s, that seems more than fair. Indeed, that’s less money than he would have gotten anywhere else, given that he was available on a free. Juventus, at least, clearly rate him very highly.
Aaron Ramsey was going to sign our offer, again, according to David Ornstein. We decided to pull the contract offer off the table and let him leave for free.
So how, exactly, is Aaron Ramsey like Emmanuel Adebayor?
I don’t care a bit about Adebayor. However, your suggestion that Aaron Ramsey, the guy still playing his heart out for a club that told him he wasn’t wanted–that’s absolutely ludicrous.
But I’m probably just a racist too, eh mate? Nevermind that I’m not white: racism is the only possible explanation for why anyone could ever dislike Emmanuel Adebayor.
Not defending Ade just saying we should not judge….just like we don’t judge Ramsey but are sanguine (great word..thanks Tim) about his departure… both just trying to get the best deal…
This did raise a question for me. With ManCity destabilising our players like Adebayor and Nasri, I was wondering how good we could have been if they hadn’t got the Abu Dhabi ownership when they did.
Would we be better off, because we’d retain some of our better players, and the wage market wouldn’t get distorted, or worse off because we still had to raise funds from transfers?
If I were a professional player ………. I would want to be paid what the going market rate was.
If I were a club owner ……….. I would want the best players I could afford, and pay them what they wanted within a sustainable budget.
Seems fair and equitable for both parties and life goes on, except ………. that phrase ‘market rate’ rears its head, and rot my socks, it turns out that Arsenal’s financial model excludes it from competing against some other clubs in a market distorted by owners with extraordinary wealth.
Not to worry — UEFA have brought in FFP that limits the funds that can be expended on transfers, or that can be poured into a club by non-commercial loans etc. [the ‘etc’ is possibly a can of worms, and well above my ken]
problem is ………… FFP does not seem capable of controlling the waxing and waning of normal financial fluctuations, based on a club’s success or lack thereof, let alone the delicate matter of funds originating from billionaire owners.
So, back to cases. As a player I want to be paid the market rate, however that is arrived at. If that is not forthcoming — I am off, to get what I want elsewhere.
So would anyone.
As a club owner or coach, I would pay the player what I could afford, but when that is not enough, I can be a bit pissy about investing in a player (where value can go up or down) and improving his skills, looking after him through injuries, and when he decides the grass is greener on the other side of the fence t seems unfair.
All this is carried out in the bright light a publicity, and rarely ends amicably, especially from a fan’s point of view.
In the more private working arena of most employees, the same thing goes on without the publicity. As an employee, I am with Ade, Rambo and the rest of them — and think what lucky b*stards they are earning more In a week than I would in a year – or two – or a lifetime.
I’ve never been a club owner so have not experienced this unequal competition for top players (any players) between my club and the other wealthier clubs.
But I do have some sympathy for owners in that position — not so much for the Arsenal’s of this world, but for the clubs in the lower leagues who have found and improved a nugget only to have his head turned by the bigger, wealthier clubs better able to win trophies.
I cannot believe anyone will read my comment, on a footballing subject I have no experience, and little knowledge of. 😜
Amen to you RA for point out that Ade and Ramsey are exactly the same.. trying to get the best deal.. To call one a mercenary and the other no is missing it..
Ah yes, exactly alike, because Ramsey just got his wages doubled last year, and now he wants them doubled again. Great comparison, very useful.
You should start your own blog called Bad Faith arguments. Mate.
hahhaha LOll very good mate.. but all arguments made in good(ish) faith.