Food For Thought: Is Emmanuel Adebayor Following In Kaka's Footsteps?

Emmanuel Adebayor And Kaka - Birds Of The Same Feather?

"I came back from holiday and in my first training session they told me that they had accepted an offer for me. I asked Wenger why he wanted to sell me. I found out that Arsenal needed the money and that I was the target. I never wanted to leave. I’m happy they get their money and I hope they spend it well."

Almost, almost, almost a Kaka-like speech, isn't it? Kaka said pretty much the same thing when he signed for Real Madrid from AC Milan earlier in the summer.....

Only, at the time there was no denying that Milan indeed wanted the money (and are still in need of cash) and that Kaka was the Rossoneri's best and most prized asset and was a fan favourite.

As for Emmanuel Adebayor he is more a liability than an asset at the Emirates and according to a Goal.com poll, 70% of the Arsenal fans worldwide wanted the Togolese international striker to leave the club.

So Adebayor isn't certainly sacrificing himself for Arsenal, although the Gunners could do well with the money they have received from his sale to Premier League cashbag Manchester City.

As far as Adebayor's relationship with the fans is concerned, here is what he said, "The way the fans turned against me was not nice. They didn’t turn on Cesc Fabregas when Barcelona showed interest in him. When a player plays well, clubs come in for him. The fans never understood that and I cannot understand why they went after me. I played my heart out for that club and gave it my best and the way the fans behaved towards me was not nice at all."

Well, first off, Fabregas is a better player than Adebayor and everyone knows that he wants to return to Spain at some point in his career and it is not for the money.

Fabregas has had several great seasons with the Gunners and has always given his best. As for Adebayor, his only great season in his entire career was 2007-2008 when he scored 24 times in the Premier League; and if what he showed on the pitch last season for Arsenal was his best, then Arsene Wenger is right to sell him and garner some helpful cash.

Will David Villa Remain At Valencia After All?

Valencia's apparent greed and obvious hardball tactic led mighty Real Madrid to ditch their interest in the world's best striker David Villa as Florentino Perez splashed €35 million on Karim Benzema and signed the 21-year-old from French giants Lyon.

Barcelona too couldn't meet the Ches' asking price for the Spanish international striker and have now almost completed the Samuel Eto'o-Zlatan Ibrahimovic swap.

Which leaves David Villa in Valencia.

Now, el Guaje has never really wanted to force his way out of the Mestalla but has kept himself open to all offers from Spain. Last summer he willingly slammed the door on Real Madrid but this summer he wanted to join the revolution at the Bernabeu. Madrid, though, didn't want to spend high on a player who is media-shy and Barcelona too failed to swoop in on the chance.

So for the moment it seems that Villa will stay at Valencia for one more season. Which means one more season without Champions League football.

The 27-year-old has already declared his desire to stay in Spain and not to move to England, which might render Manchester United's supposed hunt for the former Real Zaragoza striker an exercise in futility.

Subhankar Mondal