Emmanuel Adebayor's Decision to Stay Makes No Sense for Player or Tottenham

Arsenal were already 2-1 up at Tottenham Hotspur when the scorers of their first two goals combined to seal the win. Unchallenged almost 40 yards out, Cesc Fabregas passed firmly to Emmanuel Adebayor with his back to goal inside the D. The striker used the ball's momentum to flick it to his left and unleash a powerful volley on the turn past the helpless Paul Robinson.

This September 2007 strike was the most eye-catching of the seven goals Adebayor would score for the Gunners versus their north London rivals. He would net 30 in all that season, for a time hinting he could be capable of filling the void left by the recently departed Thierry Henry.

Four years later, Adebayor would be wearing a Spurs shirt. 

Here in 2015, the saddening, maddening petering-out of his time at White Hart Lane feels almost like a belated and twisted course correction from the football universe—a punishment for the quirks of fate that led to Adebayor not fulfilling his potential with Arsenal and joining Spurs (via Manchester City). It being so belated, the twisted part is a decline in performance that has concluded with the nonsensical decision to stay in N17 despite it being made clear he has no chance of playing again.

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Of course, all that seems incredibly unlikely. But the notion of his career being of priority to a greater power is not something Adebayor is averse to.

According to the Telegraph's Matt Law, the 31-year-old turned down the chance to leave Tottenham for Aston Villa last month as "he wanted a sign from God that it would be the correct move."

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Law also reported Adebayor ultimately turned down Tottenham's offer to cancel his contract. Even though they were willing to continue paying his substantial wages until he found a new club, Adebayor apparently asked for the remainder of it to be paid up in full if he was to leave.

Adebayor's career getting to the point he is sacrificing the possibility of playing, for reasons questionable and tenuous, is a damn shame.

You are hesitant to criticise him too harshly without full knowledge of his documented personal issues over the last year. There was certainly a point midway through last season when Spurs head coach Mauricio Pochettino was not just understanding, but confident of Adebayor's ability to reassert his place in his setup. Per the Mirror's Jacob Murtagh:

"

I have full respect for him because he’s a great player, a great talent, but now it’s a moment and I need to stay with him and give him space. It’s not a nice moment for him and my job is to help him too.      

I have a very good relationship with him from the beginning. He understands football and that this is a business and a game. He is clever and we are clever too. My relationship with him has always been very natural and when I need to speak to him I do so. When he needs to come to see me in my office he does.

"

Instead, Adebayor showed little inclination for winning back a starting spot that had been his at the beginning of the Argentinian's stay. Now a complicated but undeniably bright talent has been dimmed by factors that should have no place in the fulfillment of potential, but sadly do.

Displayed at its best by the way he so often terrorised Tottenham, the notion of Adebayor as a genuine world-class performer might have been ended by the manner in which his relationship with Arsenal broke down (ability can only carry a player so far without consistency of character). Still, he showed across north London what a productive, often highly impressive player he is capable of being.

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There were dry spells in Adebayor's first season, 2011-12. Overall, though, his 17 goals and powerful yet skillful presence up top undeniably contributed to an improved Premier League showing from Spurs—one in which a title challenge had not felt out of the question up until late-January's loss to Adebayor's parent club, eventual champions Manchester City.

"Of course I would," then-manager Harry Redknapp responded when asked if he wanted to sign the forward permanently, per BBC Sport's Alistair Magowan. "I love Adebayor. He's a real character and a good player."

Spurs would sign him, but Redknapp was gone by then. His replacement Andre Villas-Boas never saw the best of the player, as fitness issues were followed by a struggle to find form in an attack where Gareth Bale had taken on greater prominence. The Portuguese and the Togo international's relationship fell apart after the latter turned down the opportunity to leave in the summer of 2013, per BBC Sport (foreshadowing his more recent obstinacy).

Adebayor's reported decision to turn down Villa last month was all the more surprising given their manager, Tim Sherwood, was the last to get anything near a consistent return out of him. The player's 14 goals from December '13 onward briefly reignited Spurs' hopes of a top-four finish.

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Sherwood believed in the player then and seemingly retained trust he could still deliver, helping them to replace the departed Christian Benteke.

The former Spurs boss still has plenty to prove as a top-flight coach, while Villa's status as a club only recently removed from a relegation battle might not have engendered too much optimism in Adebayor. However, the chance to remain in the Premier League as a key member of a side in need of quality and experience should have appealed (that Pochettino initially made him a vice-captain at Spurs speaks to some personality as a squad leader too).

There supposedly remained interest from other clubs in signing him right up until transfer deadline day—West Ham United ultimately opted to sign Hull City's Nikica Jelavic, per the Mirror's Darren Lewis.

Whether Adebayor will get that opportunity again in England is doubtful. If they have not already, the last vestiges of his professional reputation may soon be extinguished by his prioritising empty monetary gain.

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"For me, there's nothing better than football, and all my life I've been playing this game," Adebayor said shortly after joining Tottenham in September 2011, per the club's official website.

Without evidence to the contrary, it seems there are things that mean more to football than Adebayor. Because of his own actions, his playing options before January are severely limited (he also failed to show for international duty last week, per Sky Sports News HQ) and his legacy is in tatters.

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Adebayor could have ended his time at Spurs on a respectful note. Smoothly allowing the club to refashion their attack without having to worry about his presence, while also getting a fresh start himself.

It would not have whitewashed Adebayor's tumultuous four-year stay, but it would have allowed his positive contributions to be the overriding image of his stay. His parts in twice thrashing Newcastle United, a 4-0 home win over Liverpool and a 2-1 victory away at Manchester United among them.

Instead, Tottenham supporters will now join their capital neighbours in lamenting time spent with a player who proved more trouble than he was worth.