Real Madrid Transfer News: Do Blancos Need Emmanuel Adebayor To Beat Barcelona?

When you are Real Madrid, the richest football club in the world, it is expected that there will be some serious change in store if you don't win your league title and/or the UEFA Champions League.

Even with the 2011 Copa del Rey in hand, manager Jose Mourinho has plenty of work to do to make sure Los Blancos not only keep pace with Barca, but more importantly, edge past Barca, their chief rivals in Spain's La Liga.

Madrid already sports one of the most talent-rich rosters in the world, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Iker Casillas among a cast of characters loaded with football luminaries from all over the world.

Yet, even "the Special One" couldn't quite get this group to the very tip top of the table in Spain, as Barcelona laid the wood to Real in the first meeting of "El Clasico" last season, 5-0, before Los Blancos forced a 1-1 tie in their second match in April.

Why such a difference between the two performances for Los Blancos? Some might say the team simply needed more time to gel in Mourinho's first season with the club, while others may point to the addition of Emmanuel Adebayor, whom Mourinho brought in on loan from Manchester City of the English Premier League in January. Adebayor played quite well for Madrid in his short time there, scoring eight goals in 22 total appearances between league, cup and European play.

With the summer transfer season heating up near a boiling point, Adebayor has not been bashful about his desire to return to Bernabeu on a more permanent basis. In speaking to Yahoo! Sports, Adebayor said of his current situation:

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"I am prepared to wait until the last minute of the window on August 31," Adebayor told Marca. Mourinho told me he will do everything to bring me back and I am optimistic that a deal can be done. For me, Real are everything. I love the club. On my last day working with the club, my team-mates demanded that I be brought back for next season. That was incredible."

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It would seem, then, that if Adebayor's words ring true, Los Blancos would be keen to bring him back on board as a transfer rather than a loan-out. 

Then again, it could just be a ploy by Adebayor, who has struggled with Manchester City ever since Roberto Mancini acquired him from Arsenal two years ago and doesn't figure all that well into Mancini's plans for City this season.

Adebayor sounded acutely aware of this fact as he went on:

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"I don't believe that Manchester City will create any problems and will be happy to sell. I don't think I am of interest to coach Roberto Mancini."

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The Togolese striker sounded supremely confident in his ability, as always, suggesting that Real fans have yet to see the "true Adebayor" and that he "can still do much better."

All of which is well and good, as long as Mourinho believes that Adebayor is the best footballer Los Blancos can add in their bid to end Barcelona's three-year reign atop the Spanish League.

According to The Sun, Mourinho has also been rumoured to have eyes for Santos forward Neymar, though between a desire on his part to represent his Brazilian team in the upcoming Club World Cup and the team's unwillingness to part with its young star, it appears as though the 19-year-old sensation isn't about to cross the pond just yet, despite bids of up to £40 million for his services.

Los Blancos may also try to poach Sergio Aguero from crosstown rival Atletico Madrid and have already put in an offer for Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, though likely only to drive up the price for Barcelona so as to stoke the flames of their bitter rivalry.

As such, with Adebayor being as eager to rejoin Real as he is after already proving to be a boon to the team's success, and the club apparently reciprocating their appreciation of and desire for his return, a reunion between the two parties would seem to be the most natural move possible at the point.

However, whether acquiring Adebayor would be enough to move Real Madrid past a 1-1 tie with Barca and into the driver's seat in La Liga remains to be seen.