Adebayor gets go-ahead for Barcelona move· Catalan club set to bid £30m for unsettled striker
· Arsenal target Blackburn's Santa Cruz as replacement
Dominic Fifield
The Guardian, Friday July 4, 2008
Barcelona are to submit an increased offer worth about £30m for Emmanuel Adebayor after Arsenal privately conceded that they are prepared to sell the unsettled Togo striker if the price is right.
An initial offer of about £24m from the Catalan club was rejected this week because the Gunners are determined to secure a fee that reflects the value of a player who cost them only £4.2m from Monaco 18 months ago but has improved immeasurably under Arsène Wenger. Adebayor has been a revelation since moving to England and scored 30 goals in all competitions last season as Arsenal remained in contention for the Premier League title and European Cup before running out of steam in the last three months of the campaign.
Wenger was initially resistant to interest from Milan and Barcelona but he has grown weary of the mixed messages he has received from Adebayor and the 24-year-old striker's agent, Stéphane Courbis, with Adebayor veering from pledging his future to the club one minute to suggesting it would be better for all parties if he were allowed to move on the next. He earns some £35,000 a week at the Emirates and has been keen to secure a more lucrative deal.
Arsenal had been prepared to enter into negotiations but it appears the Togo forward has now burnt his bridges with the club. That will pave the way for a move to Camp Nou - Milan having hinted that they could not afford the player - but, even though Arsenal's price will soon be met, the timing of the deal will depend on how swiftly the Gunners lure a replacement. Wenger's first choice is believed to be Blackburn Rovers' Roque Santa Cruz, who impressed during a prolific first season in the Premier League, but Manchester United have also expressed a tentative interest in the Paraguayan.
The new Rovers manager, Paul Ince, will resist attempts to lure Santa Cruz away and expects both the striker and David Bentley, the subject of interest from Tottenham Hotspur, to report back for pre-season training on Monday. But the Lancashire club are realistic and a substantial offer for the forward would be likely to secure him for Arsenal.
Wenger is understood to be disappointed by Adebayor's attitude and recognises that there is no value in retaining the services of a player who feels his future does not lie at the Emirates. Adebayor would relish a move to Barça, whose president, Joan Laporta, faces a "motion of censure" by club members on Sunday which, if lost, will see him thrust into an election to retain his position.
Yet the desire to appease members with a big-name signing to follow the £23.5m purchase of Sevilla's Daniel Alves is only one element of Laporta's thinking. Barcelona have made it clear that their priority this summer is signing a striker with physical presence, after sanctioning the departure of Samuel Eto'o. They had considered Chelsea's Didier Drogba but have been persuaded that Adebayor represents better value, given his age.
Adebayor will follow Mathieu Flamini out of Arsenal, the midfielder having signed for Milan under the Bosman ruling, and Alexander Hleb is also expected to depart before the start of the season, with Barcelona and Bayern Munich having expressed interest in the Belarus midfielder. Wenger will secure Marseille's Samir Nasri as a replacement and intends to play Abou Diaby as a central midfielder, with Gilberto Silva as an experienced back-up, though he may yet be tempted back into the market to strengthen his squad.
Villarreal may yesterday have deflected any interest Wenger had in their Spain midfielder Marcos Senna by insisting any suitor would have to pay about £30m for the 31-year-old, who was one of the most consistent performers at Euro 2008.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jul/04/premierleague.arsenal?gusrc=rss&feed=football
