Olaleye Idowu
Former Togo striker, Emmanuel Adebayor, has opened up about his departure from Arsenal.
Adebayor, speaking with Optus Sport, claimed the then-manager Arsene Wenger banished him from the training ground.
Wenger signed the striker from Monaco and he finished the 2007/08 season with 30 goals in all competitions.
However, the next summer, a bitter contract wrangle led to several top European clubs courting Adebayor.
And although he eventually put pen to paper on a new deal, his relationship with Wenger had been broken.
And the Frenchman asked Adebayor to leave, with Manchester City landing him from their Premier League rivals.
“I had a great season in 2008, I had everyone calling me,” Adebayor said.
“Milan, when Milan was great with Kaka, Gattuso, Maldini and Shevchenko, but I said I wasn’t going, I’m staying with Arsenal.
“I went on holiday but when I came back to the club I had a meeting with the boss, and he said ‘I don’t need you any more.’ And I was like ‘Wow’, what am I going to do?
“I wanted a chance to fight for my place and he said no. He said if I stayed I’d not be in the squad for the league, not in the squad for the Champions League or the cup. I thought, ‘ok, this is harsh’.
“I decided to try and give it a chance to force my way back in, but I came back the next day to the training ground and they blocked the gate.
I realized“I wasn’t allowed to enter the Arsenal training ground facility and that’s when I realised it was over.”
