“I would like to see one Arsenal fan who worked somewhere for £10 and was offered work elsewhere for £30 to say they would refuse. Yes, they offered me a very fine contract and I have signed it.”
May 6th 2009: “Arsenal put me where I am today – they made me one of the biggest strikers in the world. I have to pay them back. How am I going to pay them back? Make them win trophies. That is what I am here for and I have to fight for that. Next season, 100 per cent, I am an Arsenal footballer.”
May 26th 2009: “I am very happy playing for Arsenal, and this is what I always say. At the end of the day you just get bored of this – people read these things and then the fans will boo you for what you never said, but again I repeat that I am very happy here. This season I have given 100 per cent of what I have, and I’m looking forward to coming back next season and trying to achieve things. I don’t care what we have to do to win something – we have got to do whatever it takes to bring trophies home.”
July 5th 2009: Asked by Observer Sport whether Adebayor would be leaving Arsenal, Adebayor’s representative, Stephane Courbis said: “No, no.”
July 13th 2009: Adebayor in talks with City
July 16th 2009: Adebayor stalls on offer of £150k a week contract.
“When someone offers you that kind of money, it is a big attraction to people nowadays,” said Ferguson. “That is the reason they have gone there. At the last minute, from what I can gather, either Emmanuel Adebayor or his agent phoned us after they had agreed a deal with City and then did the same with Chelsea. He was desperate to get to either Chelsea or us.”
D’oh.
