Reports in the media today suggest that Man City are going to offer us the opportunity to sign Emmanuel Adebayor permanently in January for £10m. They claim that we have an option to buy him in the summer for £14m, but City would like to get him off their wage bill and would like to see the deal go through earlier. I'm pretty sure that someone at the club said that we don't have an option to buy him when the loan went through, but I suppose something could've been negotiated after the transfer window closed. How likely do people think that this deal is? Is it financially feasible? If not, would it still be worth buying him anyway, with a view to moving him on in the summer at a substantial profit? He's been excellent for us so far. We do need another player that can play the lone role to replace Pavlyuchenko in January, in my opinion, regardless of whether this rumour has any substance.
£10-14m seems like a no-brainer to me. We could probably even afford to double his wages at that price, on a 5 year deal, which would keep him with us until he retires to the MLS.
Personally I think before we go down that road I would like to see him do what we got him for - scoring goals. Yes his all round play is excellent, however since the 'Pool match he hasn't hit the net. I have seen this before, a forward who isn't scoring but contributing the team as a whole. Once he starts doing that again then we can look at a permanent deal.
Erm, in that case, double what we're paying him at the moment! The boy's done good so far. He's not been the arrogant ****er he's made out to be. So, no negatives, only positives. OK, maybe one negative: JD wont stay around for another year on the bench.
It's financially feasible if he accepts a wage cut... Otherwise it's dead in the water. £10m is a snip for a player of his calibre, it's just down to the fact of whether money or football is more important to him.
If we sign Adebayor we will almost certainly be saying goodbye to either JD or Pav, but I think for £10m it would be a good deal. He's said he would accept a wage cut and he wants to join Spurs full time. But it would have to be quite a big pay cut - he's on around £170k at the moment and there's no way we will go over £100k. Would love it to happen though.
for £10m + 100k-a-week i would snap him up in a a heartbeat. Even if his form deteriorates we would get more than £10m for him if we moved him on.
A 'signing-on' fee can probably work around the wages problem to some extent. Tbh considering how much money strikers of his calibre are commanding nowadays I think 10m would be very good business indeed and I think the club will do something to try and keep him. I am sure he will start hitting the net soon - he is still playing his part in creating chances and assists so I think most will be happy with his overall contribution.
I would take him in a heartbeat, as said before the wages are the problem,with Pav obviously leaving we need to keep Ade long term.Harry said in an interview that he isn't looking to buy anyone in January so maybe he knew about this already and is trying to get it sorted with Levy.
City would have to pay him a fee to terminate his contract. If they give him say £5m up front, we give him £5m upfront and then we pay him £100k a week, it is sorted. I know that would still be a pay cut over a 5 year contract (assuming £175k figure is correct) but near enough to get a deal I would have thought. Still would be nearly £10m out of pocket for a 5 year deal, but very close if only a 3 year deal.
Some of you are missing the bigger picture here. He's not a snip at all. Rarely these days are prices the issue. With Adebayor it's all about the wages. I don't think he'll even get £100,000 from us. If we do come to an agreement with him then every other big player will want parity. If he's available for £10 million, his wages will probably be, over a four or 5 year term, about £15 million. That's £25 million for a player whose price tag will drop with age. That's presuming he'd be prepared to take a substantial wage drop. Would you take a huge pay cut to move to another company? I doubt it. Footballers are no different. I can see him moving to either Paris St Germain or that Russian club at the end of the season. They're the only teams that aren't top drawer with better players that could afford him.
There are probably at least a couple of others (Malaga?), but this is why I suggested buying him in January and then moving him on for a profit in the summer.
Everyone would want a rise if Adebayor got £100kpw. If we can afford that then great, if not wait to find out where we finish in the league.
I think a lot of City players on the fringes just need to accept that if they want to move on they will have to take an enormous pay cut and just be grateful that they had a few years on big bucks. They are extraordinary circumstances. None of us can honestly say that even in today's market Adebayor is worth anywhere near £175,000 a week. He should accept that. You either take the money and don't play or reduce your wage and play. Simple as that. Chasing the dollar won't make him happy. He tried that at City and he felt sick at having to go training every day. Time to accept the realities of business, and very soon, the realities of football. I think we've seen the last of these enormous wages at any club now with the fair play stuff about to kick in.
Who would you suggest, Luvgonzo? Bear in mind that any striker you suggest would need to be able to play the lone role effectively.
I'm yet to see him play badly. The goals may be inconsistent, that doesn't mean the quality of his play is inconsistent.
