Tottenham Transfer News: Breaking Down Spurs Signing Emmanuel Adebayor

Who among Tottenham's most faithful supporters saw the summer transfer window going this well for their Spurs?

First, it's the re-signing of Gareth Bale, then Gylfi Sigurdsson chooses White Hart Lane over Anfield, and just last week it was Jan Vertonghen arriving to shore up a troublesome centre-back situation.

Now, most recently, ESPN is reporting that Manchester City and Tottenham have agreed to a deal that will bring forward Emmanuel Adebayor, who has been on loan with Spurs since last August, to North London permanently.

According to ESPN, the agreement will see him paid a salary of £100,000 per week, but will also hand him a significant signing-on fee. 

It's exactly what the doctor ordered for a Spurs squad that was lacking in the striker department, but will he transition well into his new role as permanent member of the squad?

Join me as I examine Spurs' latest signing and answer the questions surrounding Emmanuel Adebayor's arrival to the North London club.

Is He Spurs' Answer at Forward?

Yes and no.

Last season, Adebayor made 32 appearances for Tottenham and certainly made his mark on the team's offense, scoring 17 goals and assisting on 11 more.

In short, of 66 total goals scored by Spurs last season, he accounted for more than 42 percent of the club's scores.

But Adebayor playing a part in nearly half of the club's goals last season is less about how great he is and more about how terrible the other options at forward were.

In my opinion, Adebayor was counted on to do a lot more than he should have been. He's an intelligent player who is great at feeding the ball to a more traditional striker on counterattacks—like we saw a handful of times last year with Jermain Defoe.

For Adebayor to excel, he'll need a partner. I don't believe Defoe is that person. He'll be great at centre-forward, but he needs a striker to dump passes off to and he needs an attacking midfielder.

Can We See More of Adebayor in the Air?

If nothing else, Adebayor is the best finisher on Spurs' squad and one of the best in the air in the top flight of English football.

According to WhoScored.com, the 6'3" behemoth won an average of 1.9 aerial duels per match last season.

How many times did he dwarf opposing centre-backs when Rafael van der Vaart or Gareth Bale set him up with a potential header in the box? And how effective was he at whipping his frame around and punching the ball in the back of the net?

With the way Tottenham's spending spree has gone so far this season, it looks as though we'll be seeing more of Adebayor in the air—and that's a very good thing.

How Will He and Gylfi Sigurdsson Pair Up?

My guess is very, very well.

As I wrote when Tottenham locked up Gylfi Sigurdsson, their new signing from Iceland would flourish with Spurs if they had a gifted finisher like Adebayor.

In 18 appearances with Swansea City last season, Sigurdsson served up 37 crosses that were turned into shots by teammates. However, only three made it between the posts.

With Adebayor back on the squad, Sigurdsson has a player who will turn those 37 crosses into far more than three scores. My guess is Adebayor triples that by himself, but bold predictions are for another article.

What Kind of Dent Will He Put in Spurs' Spending?

Surprisingly, very little.

As ESPN reported, the deal is just £100,000 per week. That means that including Adebayor, Tottenham has brought on three great talents for relatively very little money.

Bale broke the bank, but Sigurdsson was £8 million, Vertonghen was £9 million and Adebayor was £5 million.

Spending £22 million to fix most of the club's problem spots? That leaves a considerable amount of money to find a replacement goalkeeper for Brad Friedel and possibly a natural striker to pair with Adebayor.