Why West Brom signing Emmanuel Adebayor would not be a smart move after all
In what can only be termed as a shock move, West Brom are considering a move for ex-Premier League striker Emmanuel Adebayor (source – The Sun). The Baggies boss is also looking to secure an attacker before the end of the transfer window.
Profile
Emmanuel Adebayor is a 36-year-old Togolese striker who is currently a free agent. He started his youth career at OC Azaga in 1998 and moved to FC Metz after a year. After two seasons, he made the switch to AS Monaco. He played over 100 games for the side before Arsene Wenger brought him to England with Arsenal in 2006.
At Arsenal, he had his most prolific spell with 142 games, 62 goals and 22 assists (source – Transfermarkt). A bitter exit to Manchester City followed which irked the Gunners fans. He enjoyed moderate success there before a surprise loan move to Real Madrid followed.
He returned to City but was again loaned out to Tottenham in 2011. They made his move permanent in 2012. Adebayor provided good service to Spurs for 4 seasons, playing 113 games, scoring 42 goals and assisting 20.
After his Spurs contract ended, he was without a club for 6 months before Crystal Palace signed him on a 6-month deal. He was again a free agent before Istanbul Basaksehir signed him in 2017. The forward spent the last two seasons at Kayserispor and Olimpia before being released as a free agent. He is quite a veteran and prolific scorer for Togo with 66 caps and 29 goals.
A wise option or a bad idea?
It’s rather baffling as to why Slaven Bilic is looking to bring in Adebayor despite having quite a few players who can contribute with goals. Charlie Austin, Hal-Robson Kanu and Kenneth Zohore are all available as strikers. Add to that the likes of Grady Diangana and you have a very decent attack.
Yes, the risks are low with a free transfer but adding another player to the attack is not what the club need at this point. They should look for some defensive reinforcements if possible.
Verdict
Adebayor may be a veteran of the Premier League but at 36, he is highly unlikely to offer much to a West Brom side that just got promoted. The striker is keen on a return due to a personal reason, which is to get 3 more goals in the league to complete a tally of 100 Premier League goals.
It looks like a fairly bad idea to bring in a 36-year-old attacker who hasn’t had a great few last seasons and has been quite a journeyman.
