by Puneet Singh
There was once a young striker in the 1990's that Arsene Wenger plucked out from France and turned into a star. Over the two years that that forward plyed his trade in Arsenal (from 1997-1999) he became more and more known to the world and his ego became bigger. With his bigger ego came desires for a bigger paycheck. So Arsene let him leave for Real Madrid cashing in on him for a nice fee of £22.3 million pounds.
This forward went on to have a career filled of futility with highs and lows. This striker also had a stint at Manchester City, albiet before the Abu Dhabi era.
In case you can't figure out who I'm referring this story to, it is none other than "Le Sulk" Nicolas Anelka.
Anelka was plucked out of PSG for a lowly fee of £500,000 in February of 1997. During the 1998-1999 campaign (the year United would win the treble) Anelka had a solid season scoring 18 goals in 45 games for the Gunners. At the tender age of 20, Anelka had put himself on the map as an up and coming striker.
With demands for higher wages being sent out as a threat by Anelka to Arsenal they made the move to sell him rather than having the distraction of him in their locker room. It also helps that they had an up and coming striker in the name of Theirry Henry and Dennis Bergcamp.
Fastforward 10 years. Now at the age of 30, Le Sulk has played for Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Manchester City, Fenerbache, Bolton and Chelsea in that 10 year span. Finding a home just doesn't seem logical for him given his nature to not fit in locker rooms and being a headcase.
Outside of Bolton and only a few dustups in Chelsea, Anelka has been unwanted by everywhere else he's gone.
The parellels to Adebayour are scary.
Adeybayour was signed from the French club Monoco in the January 2006 transfer window for £3 million pounds. During his three seasons at Highbury//Emirites he popped in 58 goals in 130 games including 30 goals in 48 games during the 2007-2008 season.
This is when the buzz became really big around "Adey."
That summer window, Adebayour was the hottest name on the market. (NOTE: I would say Cristiano Ronaldo, but only Madrid were pursuing CR7). With Barca, Milan, Chelsea, and Internazionele amongst the clubs vying for his signature, demand was at a high.
Luckily Wenger ponied up the cash to upgrade his wages to €80K a week. That kept him content....for the time being.
Another year goes by and Adebayour doesn't quite have the year all expected of him, disappointing some but still managing to find the back of the net 16 times in 38 games.
Demand is still high with Milan and Barca again contacting Arsenal about his services. But they view Adey as a plan B or C.
Manchester City give both Adebayour and Wenger a call. They tell Adey they will pay him more than TWICE his contract, meaning wages of €170k a week. They give Wenger a good offer (€25 million; better than what should have been given for this years work, but not up to par with last years offers. When it is all said and done, by July 17th, 2009, Emmanuel Adebayour is officially a Citizen.
Adebayour is on the same path of Anelka; naive youngster's who let fame and fortune get the best of them. Both left Arsenal and Wenger for dreams of a bigger paycheck without ever fully winning much or helping Arsenal. Both were bad for their team and had/have high expectations put on them. In the case of Anelka, he lasted one year at the Bernabeau and then was shown the door due to his bad temperment, lack of hustle and effort and me first attitude.
How long will Adey last at City? Just enough to see another big name striker come in next year take his spot and have him shipped out into mediocrity.
No comments:
Post a Comment