It’s been a hell of a ride for Emmanuel Adebayor.
Metz, Monaco, Arsenal and Manchester City. A loan stint at Real Madrid followed by a permanent switch to Tottenham. And then there was his brief period with Crystal Palace, which ended with Alan Pardew deciding not to hand the Togolese striker a contract extension.
As a result, Emmanuel is currently a free agent – despite coming mightily close to earning himself a deal with Lyon.
A meeting was held between Adebayor and the French club’s manager, Bruno Genesio, only for Lyon to pull the plug on the deal afterwards.
Now Genesio has revealed it was Adebayor’s behaviour during the talks which caused him to cool his interest.
“We had a place in our squad for Manu, so I arranged to meet him for a coffee in Lyon,” Genesio said, according to quotes in the Sun.
“But, to my surprise, when he arrived he asked for a shot of whisky in his coffee. He also had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.”
Probably not the best way for a well-travelled 32-year-old footballer to convince a potential new boss that he’s worth a contract.
It’s worth pointing out that Genesio’s recount of the meeting differs from that of Adebayor’s, who had suggested nearer the time that the move had fallen through after he had refused to withdraw from the African Cup of Nations next January.
“Yesterday morning, Claude Le Roy, my Togo coach, told me that he had seen on television that I wasn’t signing. I phoned my agent and he more or less confirmed it,” said Adebayor.
“I had spoken to the coach. He asked me surprising questions. He wanted to know if I was married, had a child. But he only had to look on the internet.
“He asked me how I would speak to the young players at Lyon in case there were any problems, how I would see my role. It was like he didn’t know me while we had already reached an agreement on a contract.
“For 15 years, I have been playing at the highest level, that I have worked with the best coaches in the world – Wenger, Mourinho, Deschamps, Mancini. He even asked me why it had not worked at Crystal Palace.”
