Tottenham Transfer Debate: Emmanuel Adebayor or Andy Carroll?

Andre Villas-Boas' first Tottenham press conference was full of highs, lows and, of course, transfer speculation.

The Tottenham head coach was asked on Wednesday about the possibility of Andy Carroll being brought to the North London outfit.

Villas-Boas' response? (via ESPN UK)

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"It's not fair for me to comment on that. I'm not sure of Liverpool's intentions on Andy Carroll," Villas-Boas said.

"But he's certainly not a player we're looking for."

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That was always likely to be the statement from Villas-Boas. But, if the price for Carroll is right, it shouldn't be taken at face value.

Remember, this is the transfer window. Until it shuts, no one can rule out anything, especially if—as Jason Burt of The Telegraph reported—Liverpool and Tottenham have had talks at some point.

Tottenham don’t exactly have a dearth of forwards at the moment. Jermaine Defoe and Harry Kane are the only recognized out-and-out frontmen, and considering that Defoe is looking to leave (via Metro) that leaves the club woefully short on options.

But, if Villas-Boas remembers his Chelsea stint, he had multiple options up front with which to work.

He had the ability to throw on a Fernando Torres or a Daniel Sturridge if play wasn’t up to snuff. Didier Drogba was often his preferred frontman—even if Roman Abramovich did meddle a little bit.

So it’s not as if Villas-Boas hasn’t had powerful forwards beside him.

Spurs are still expecting a deal to be done with Manchester City for Emmanuel Adebayor, mooted for around €7.6 million but a massive wage packet of €127,000 per week, shattering the usual high of €89,000.

That might not even include upfront payments to make up for the wages Adebayor made at City, possibly in the neighborhood of €215,000 per week.

This brings up a rather important question: if West Ham (via Daily Mail) and Fulham (via ESPNStar.com) are looking for a loan and later a €19 million swoop, why is Tottenham not doing likewise?

Picking up Carroll last season would have been a boon to the club as his physical presence is still enough to unnerve defenses.

At 23, Carroll certainly would fall into the “value” category, if the club could pick him up on the cheap.

Adebayor, meanwhile, is 28, and while the upfront costs are certainly cheap, the payment costs would negate the value quite quickly.

So, which is a better option?

Adebayor obviously has an understanding with most of the players within the squad, but the time that Villas-Boas is spending implementing his system without him might prove detrimental.

Plus, with so few forwards, it’s still likely that Tottenham will look for bodies to lead the line.

Competition is good, but how will Adebayor react to it?

Once Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguero appeared, Adebayor plummeted from a starting role to a bench player.

There wasn’t enough competition at Spurs last year to see how Adebayor would react. Nor is there any guarantee that he won’t butt heads with Villas-Boas, as Adebayor seemed to respond to Harry Redknapp’s belief in him.

Carroll provides an option similar to Peter Crouch in terms of aerial ability, and he has a similar ability to Adebayor in terms of holdup play.

Carroll, however, is certainly more of an out-and-out number nine forward, who will be in the box, looking to head in.

He did, though, demonstrate late in the season his ability to control the aerial route to the benefit of Liverpool; he not only headed at goal but laid off long balls to oncoming midfielders.

He does not have relationships with any players on the squad (sans Scott Parker) and doesn’t necessarily fit the role of a Falcao—a goal-scoring superman.

With the general pros and cons laid bare, which would you choose?