Adebayor explains his annoyance, compares situation to Wenger and Arsenal

 

Emmanuel Adebayor expected to now be a Lyon player, but the club pulled out of the deal, claiming their change of mind was due to Africa Cup of Nations concerns.

As Togo captain, Adebayor was always very likely to go to the tournament, and therefore miss over a month of club football this season.

The 32 year old is annoyed with the situation, and it sounds like he has a point. Lyon must have been aware of the Cup of Nations, so before suggesting to Adebayor he’d get a deal, they probably should have decided how concerned they were about the tournament.

Speaking to L’Equipe, Adebayor shared several incidents that made him think things were a little strange at Lyon. Florian Maurice works in recruitment for Lyon, and Adebayor thought he had too much control over manager Bruno Genesio.

Adebayor told the French newspaper that Genesio seemed afraid of Maurice, and added: “I asked to see the locker room to soak up the atmosphere but he said he had to ask Florian Maurice. Imagine Wenger asking someone if he can show me around the facilities at Arsenal.”

The striker believed he was about to become a Lyon player several days ago, but after rushing in, the French club started to back away: “This morning (yesterday morning), Claude Le Roy, my Togo coach, told me he had seen on L’Equipe that I did not sign.

“It was already agreed Tuesday on the conditions of my arrival. Lyon wanted to send me a private plane in Lome (Togo)! I could not leave the same evening in Lome, as this is not Paris, no airplanes at all hours. I had, in addition, stuff to settle on Wednesday. So I arrived on Friday morning at 10.30am and was told I was going to talk to the coach.

“I thought I’d undergo a medical and sign… in the beginning I was to be presented at the Olympico (Lyon’s stadium). And even if I had not been in the group on Sunday, I would have gone to Marseille to support and see how the team played. I think the victory in the Champions League against Zagreb has a little changed everything a little.”

Adebayor now remains without a club, and will hope the Lyon non-deal will bring him to the attention of other clubs, who would surely have to be aware that the Africa Cup of Nations is being held early next year, Togo have qualified, and their captain is obviously going to want to play.