City transfer talk: 6 August – those Adebayor quotes, Balotelli and Robinho

Tuttosport came up with some extraordinary quotes yesterday from Emmanuel Adebayor, claiming he is “sorry to leave the Premier League” with Juventus interested in him and the prospect of limited first team opportunities with City. Not surprisingly the club quickly refuted this, pointing out that he has just been given our number nine shirt.

MCFC twitter:

“Take it from us everyone, despite reports, MCFC has no plans to sell Emmanuel Adebayor; our new no.9 for this season – and that’s official”

Quite where Tuttosport got these quotes is a mystery and it’s no surprise to see them refuted. If Santa Cruz, Jo and Caceido all leave as expected then Adebayor and Tevez would be our only senior strikers.

Even with Balotelli there would hardly be cause for Adebayor to worry about his place. The teenager is often used down the flanks, similar to Bellamy, and doesn’t have the experience to play a full season as a lead striker.

But what if City sign Dzeko or Ibrahimovic? Adebayor’s place as a first-choice striker would then be under threat. Allowing for rotation and City’s policy of having two quality players for every position then his place in the squad is still guaranteed. The question would be whether this is enough to keep Adebayor happy.

In pre-season we have been reminded that Adebayor is no target man, and he hasn’t given the attack the focal point it needed in either of the games against Inter or Borussia Dortmund. Quite possibly Dzeko or Ibrahimovic would provide this.

Deals for either of these players would be a struggle, with neither sure to come. With this in mind it’s no surprise to see City standing by their current man. If one of them does arrive, then maybe talk of Adebayor leaving might not seem so far fetched. Renowned transfer tweeter, Christian Larrson thinks so.

Christian Larrson:

“Adebayor: “I want to quit City for Juve”. Are City still pretending he’s staying.”

Elsewhere, the relative silence over Balotelli was lifted by his agent Mino Raiola, who dismissed the wage demands reported in the UK press and said City were still favourites to sign the Italian. Needless to say with Raiola, a deal still seems some way from being done.

Looming on the horizon is the return of Robinho now his loan with Santos has ended. Expect the media to have a field day with this. Quite where he ends up is anybody’s guess at the moment. The best City can hope for is a part-exchange with Barca for Ibra or with Inter for Balotelli/Maicon. No-one else is likely to stump up sufficient cash.

• Do you see a future at City for Adebayor?