has denied bizarre claims that he smoked cigarettes and asked for a shot of whisky during his doomed transfer talks with Lyon.
The former Arsenal, Man City and Spurs striker has been a free agent since being released by Crystal Palace, but looked set to move to France after flying to meet the Ligue 1 club’s boss Bruno Genesio.
However, the deal broke down, with the club citing the Togo captain’s absence for the African Cup of Nations and lack of Champions League availability as key factors.
Adebayor, who has courted controversy throughout his career, disputed this explanation, accusing the French giants of inventing ‘ridiculous excuses’ to avoid signing him.
Emmanuel Adebayor’s career stats.
2001–2003 Metz 44 appearances (15 goals)
2003–2006 Monaco 78 (18)
2006–2009 Arsenal 104 (46)
2009–2012 Manchester City 34 (15)
2011 Real Madrid (loan) 14 (5)
2011–2012 Tottenham Hotspur (loan) 33 (17)
2012–2015 Tottenham Hotspur 59 (18)
2016 Crystal Palace 7 (1)
The transfer saga turned from slightly acrimonious to utterly surreal after spoof website Football France published a piece supposedly detailing the 32-year-old’s demands and conduct during the meeting.
‘We had a place in our squad for Manu, so I arranged to meet him for a coffee in Lyon,’ the website reported Geneseo as saying.
‘But, to my surprise, when he arrived he asked for a shot of whisky in his coffee. He also had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.’
The outlandish ‘quotes’ were picked up by a series of UK and European media outlets, prompting Adebayor to release an official statement clarifying the matter.
Emmanuel Adebayor denies he smoked cigarettes and asked for whisky in Lyon transfer talks
