Emmanuel Adebayor played for Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham, and has now revealed which of these Premier League clubs he felt happiest at.
The Togolese striker spent three-and-a-half years with the Gunners under Arsene Wenger between 2006 and 2009, making 142 appearances and scoring 62 goals in the process.
Controversially departing for Manchester City, he went on to enjoy stints at Real Madrid, Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Istanbul Basaksehir, Kayserispor and Olimpia, before hanging up his boots in 2020.
While not fondly remembered by Arsenal supporters, Adebayor has fond memories of his time in N5.
Emmanuel Adebayor says he was ‘happiest’ at Arsenal
Arsenal signed Adebayor from Monaco for £3 million in January 2006.
Just 21 at the time, the centre-forward’s first 18 months in North London were somewhat underwhelming, as he adapted to the pace of the English game.
However, he exploded in the 2007/08 season, netting 30 goals in all competitions, and he subsequently came close to winning the Premier League Golden Boot.
This season alone eventually earned him a blockbuster £25 million switch to Manchester City in the summer of 2009.
The way he pushed for his exit from the Emirates was enough to rub Gunners fans up the wrong way. However, he made matters a lot worse with some of his later antics.
Adebayor famously scored against Arsenal for City and ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the North Londoners’ supporters. He’s since claimed that he doesn’t regret this.
In 2011, he then joined the Gunners’ heated rivals, Tottenham, lowering himself further in Arsenal fans’ estimations.
Despite this, Adebayor claimed that he was at his happiest when at Arsenal, whilst speaking to Discovery+ in a recent interview.
“You played with a lot of teams in England. Arsenal, Man City, Spurs, Crystal Palace. When were you at your happiest?” the interviewer asked.
“Obviously, with Arsenal, that’s where I scored a lot of goals and was challenging for the Golden Boot,” he said.
“I would say I was happy both on and off the pitch because, remember, we were in London, we have a lot of community from Nigeria, my parents are from Nigeria, so I found family here from Nigeria.”
Emmanuel Adebayor won’t be able to repair his relationship with Arsenal fans
No matter how much Adebayor publicly expresses his love for Arsenal, it will not be enough to repair the damaged relationship he has with Gunners fans.
Wenger gave the player an opportunity and nurtured him while many doubted his credentials.
His way of repaying the faith shown in him by the Frenchman was by forcing his way out of the club for a City side who weren’t competing for honours like Arsenal were in the late 2000s, all for a lucrative contract.
He then decided to celebrate in front of the Gunners’ away fans, as well as consistently badmouth Arsenal in public.
For many supporters of the North London club, these actions were inconceivable enough. However, joining Tottenham merely put the nail in the coffin for his connection with those who once adored him.
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