Emmanuel Adebayor blocks Aston Villa move after consulting pastor, blames God
In the most bizarre transfer story that anyone may encounter, Tottenham striker Emanuel Adebayor claims he stopped his move to Aston Villa fearing the lack of any sign from The Almighty.
According to The Telegraph, Adebayor’s pastor confirmed the Togo international that there were no divine interventions from God that signalled for his most pious devotee to switch clubs.
The 31-year-old was on the verge of joining Tim Sherwood at Villa Park after completing a medical and even posing for pictures with Villa shirts. But the former Arsenal man stunned Villa officials in the final stages of the deal giving a whole new meaning to the phrase God works in mysterious ways.
It is understood that Tottenham offered Adebayor to terminate the remaining year of his £100,000-a-week contract at White Hart lane so as to make him eligible to join a new club on a free transfer but the towering striker insisted on being paid up front and in full which would have cost the London club something around £5 million.
The forward to join a new club in January
And with only minutes remaining before the transfer window came crashing down to shut itself until the January of next year, it is believed that Adebayor had signed the termination papers but changed his mind in the last moment, scuppering any hopes of a move this summer.
Even if the North London side came to an arrangement with Adebayor and his entourage in the coming months to cancel the remaining year on his contract, he won’t be able to join a new club until the window reopens in January 2016. This puts the former City striker in a very tight spot having already frozen out of the club by Mauricio Pochettino. Adebayor has been stripped of his squad number and forced to train with the club’s U21 side.
It was also reported that West Ham United offered to take the striker on loan for a year. But the Hammers attempt at being The Good Samaritan, pelting another biblical reference to a saga already steeping with religion, suffered a blow after Adebayor failed to turn up for a scheduled medical.
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic picked up Moses (not the harbinger of the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament but Victor Moses) on loan from Chelsea instead. The script just writes itself.
With nowhere left to go, Adebayor is expected to see out his last year at Tottenham and join a new club in January. Turkish side Galatasaray and Scottish Premier League champions Celtic are also rumoured to be interested in the forward.