Arsenal: 7 former players who ruined their legacy

Emmanuel Adebayor and his legacy of controversy

Striker Emmanuel Adebayor was signed by Wenger from Monaco in January 2006. In his three seasons with the club, he was a prolific scorer with 46 goals in 104 appearances.

Unfortunately, Adebayor seemed to thrive on controversy and he ended up leaving north London in contemptuous fashion, joining the newly rich Manchester City for £20m in 2009. The Togo international claimed he was pushed out of the door, but Wenger maintained that the move was driven by money.

Wenger later explained that he tried to keep the striker at the club and that he warned Adebayor about his decision. He told the player that the grass isn’t always greener. In addition, he used a bit of tough love that he had used in the past, telling Adebayor that if he left, don’t expect to come back.

Emmanuel Adebayor would later label his former manager as “fake”. He added that he preferred the “honesty” of Mourinho, his manager at Real Madrid.

Adebayor did that during his debut season at Manchester City. After scoring against his former side in a 4-2 win at the Eithad, Adebayor ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Arsenal supporters. In addition to angering the fans who once loved him, Adebayor was fined £25,000 for the incident. He would later state that he was justified to behave in this manner.

His honeymoon with City eventually ended as he fell down the pecking order under Roberto Mancini. After he had moved on, he described his time at Manchester City as a “headache”.

Adebayor sealed his place as persona non grata with the red half of north London when he joined Tottenham.