Emmanuel Adebayor Epitomizes All That Is Wrong With Modern Footballers

It pains me to admit it but Emmanuel Adebayor is one of the most prodigiously gifted strikers in the world of football today. The reason it pains me to admit it is that he is also one of the most avaricious individuals to ever darken the doorstep of the English game.

Adebayor's "interest" in money first came to light when he was appointed captain of the Togo team who had just qualified for the 2006 World Cup for the first time in the nation's history.

Most men would have been honoured to captain their country. Adebayor's major contribution was to demand that he and his fellow players receive a minimum of         US $196,300 for participating in the tournament as well as US $38,000 for each win and half that amount for each draw.

As a result of the row Togo were on the verge of becoming the first team in history to withdraw from a World Cup game and had to be talked into taking the pitch to face Switzerland by FIFA officials at the very last minute. Ultimately the dispute over the result-based bonuses proved to be entirely academic as, perhaps unsurprisingly under the circumstances, Togo failed to win or draw a single game.

The following year the row erupted again with Adebayor thrown out of the Togo team due to the ongoing dispute over unpaid player bonuses. Supposedly Adebayor, who was earning US $61,000 a week at the time, was unhappy that the players were still owed around US $65,000 each for their less than match-winning performances in the aforementioned competition.

"The bonus problem is still there. We were given promises but still nothing has been done. Whatever happens, we're not going to let this go. If they don't pay up, I don't know what will happen," said Adebayor.

In 2008, after a solitary successful season for Arsenal, Adebayor threatened to quit because he was not being paid the same as Thierry Henry. In the words of the man himself:

"People ask if I am asking for the same salary as Henry? That is not necessarily the question. But I am being considered a worthy replacement for Henry while not deserving his salary. The question lies on this level. Either Arsenal give me what I want and I stay or they don't and I leave."

Most players would have been happy to have been mentioned in the same light as Henry, widely regarded as the best player in Arsenal's history, but not Adebayor.

Henry scored 226 goals in his time at Arsenal, a club record. Adebayor was on 46. Rather than basking in the glory of his best ever season he attempted to use his success to extort more money out of the club which had effectively made him. As a result Adebayor was given a substantial pay rise and consented to stay at Arsenal for an additional season.

Then, in September 2008, he refused to board the plane with his teammates for an international game against Zambia. His reason? He was worried the plane would crash and would only board it on the condition that the president of the Togo FA was also on board.

"There are rumours that, if we get on, the aircraft will go down. My life is very dear to me and, if we have to go down, we'll all go down together with the president," said Adebayor.

When fearing an impending plane crash the conventional reaction is to try to get people off the plane, not on it, but the president of the Togo FA was was unable to acquiesce to Adebayor's bizarre request anyway. In fact he was otherwise engaged attending his own mother's funeral. Adebayor refused to board the plane (which landed safely with no loss of life) and Togo lost the match.

The following summer, Adebayor finally left Arsenal, with whom he had signed an improved, long term contract just the previous year. When Arsenal travelled to Man City early in the season all eyes were on Adebayor. For most players a reunion with the club who gave them their big break in the game would be an emotional occasion.

All Adebayor was concerned with was vengeance. He stamped on former strike partner Robin Van Persie's head, an action for which he later received a suspension and was also accused of a stamp by another former teammate, Cesc Fabregas.

A lot of players refuse to celebrate goals against their old clubs. When former City favourite Richard Dunne scored the opener for his new club Aston Villa at the City of Manchester Stadium a few weeks later he had too much respect for the fans who used to sing his name to even celebrate the goal.

When Adebayor scored against Arsenal he ran the entire length of the pitch purely in order to celebrate in front of the travelling Arsenal fans. A deliberately provocative gesture which he later admitted was entirely pre-meditated.

Many people are becoming disillusioned with modern footballers, unable to relate to the mercenary millionaires which adorn the top-tiers of today's game. I think this is an unfair generalization and I have some sympathy for players like Shaun Wright Phillips, who was recently accused of having an over inflated sense of self-importance, after complaining bitterly at being offered a mere £70,000 a week by his employer Man City.

On the one hand £70,000 is an obscene amount of money. On the other hand a number of his teammates are getting significantly higher wages, including Adebayor who earns around £170,000 a week. It doesn't matter whether you are a Premiership footballer or working on a factory floor, if someone is doing more or less the same job as you but is getting a significantly more substantial salary for it you are going to be unsettled.

Tragically three members of the Togo national team entourage were killed in a shooting en route to the African Cup of Nations earlier this year. Adebayor was on board this bus and endured what must have been an incredibly traumatic experience.

An incident like this would make some men even more determined to carry on representing their country. Not Adebayor. This week he announced his retirement from international football. He is 26-years-old.

I am not sure that I necessarily subscribe to the viewpoint that professional footballers should also be moral role models but for many people they are still heroes. I find very little heroic about Emmanuel Adebayor.