Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor Passes Manchester City Medical

Arsenal stand to make a £22 million profit on Manchester City-bound Emmanuel Adebayor as the Togo striker made a further step towards a deal with the Citizens following a successful medical check at Eastlands, according to the BBC.

The player's mega-money move - he stands to pocket a tidy weekly wage of £170,000 - is riding on a work permit, which should be granted later today.

Adebayor spent three-and-half seasons at Arsenal following a £3 million switch from Monaco after he helped the Ligue 1 side make an unexpected appearance in the Champions League final in 2004 - a match they were to ultimately lose to Jose Mourinho's Porto.

Adebayor will be City's third striker signing this summer, and will join target-man Roque Santa Cruz and tireless forward Carlos Tevez, who received a hero's welcome following his two-year loan spell at city rivals Manchester United.

Mark Hughes' strengthening at City has now dented the squads of two members of England's top four, and the club's chances of breaking into the Champions League elite continue to increase.
Adebayor scored 62 goals in 142 Arsenal appearances.

Manchester City in talks with Arsenal over signing star striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

Manchester City are in discussions with Arsenal over signing their striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

The big-spending Eastlands club are keen to boost their squad further in what has already been a frantic summer in the transfer market.
City have already signed Gareth Barry from Aston Villa and Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn, with Carlos Tevez set to cross town from Manchester United and join the revolution.

They are however keen to boost their attacking options further, having released a statement on Friday to say they were ending their interest in signing Barcelona star Samuel Eto'o.

Adebayor has reportedly been a target for European giants AC Milan and Barcelona.

His stock has fallen dramatically among Arsenal supporters after a string of disappointing performances.

Adebayor joined Arsenal in 2006, with his goals helping the Gunners to make a concerted challenge for the league title in 2007-08, before they fell away in the final two months of the season.

Fabregas tug of war - Barca and Real Madrid do battle for £40m Arsenal skipper Cesc

Real Madrid are ready to rival Barcelona with a move for Cesc Fabregas after being frustrated in the chase of Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.

Madrid yesterday moved for Roma midfielder Daniele de Rossi but were immediately knocked back by the Italians, leaving them to turn to third-choice Fabregas.

And Barcelona president Joan Laporta last night said the Arsenal midfielder should not be ruled out as an alternative to Franck Ribery, the Barcelona star who increasingly looks to be beyond their financial reach.
It is only a fortnight since Arsenal skipper Fabregas publicly declared: 'I am wholeheartedly committed to Arsenal and my future lies with this great club.'
But that has not deterred Laporta, who recently said Barca was in Fabregas's DNA, or, it seems, Madrid.

Bernabeu sporting director Jorge Valdano has refused to completely rule out a move for Liverpool midfielder Alonso, but admitted they were nowhere near agreement with Rafa Benitez's valuation of the player.

Liverpool want £40m for the 27-year-old, according to reports in Spain, leading Madrid to make a £26m move for Rossi, but the Italians immediately ruled out the sale of their 25-year-old talisman.
Third choice is Fabregas, though Madrid have yet to make a bid and are also looking at Villarreal's 24-year-old Spain international Santi Cazorla.

Barcelona would love to sign Fabregas, who left the club for Arsenal when he was 16. Laporta yesterday said he hoped to sign a striker, left winger and midfielder.

Pep Guardiola would most likely team Fabregas with Xavi in central midfield, using Andres Iniesta in a more advanced role wide on the left.

The European champions are working on a restricted budget and would are hoping to push through the sale of Samuel Eto'o to Manchester City in a bid to boost their spending power above £60m.

Arsenal, who don't have the biggest budget themselves, may demand £40m for Fabregas, but Madrid believe they could get him cheaper and, at 22, he is better value for money than Alonso.

Fabregas, on holiday in New York, is frustrated by Arsenal's four-year run without a major trophy but is thought to be happy to stay at the Emirates for at least another season to see if there is an upturn in fortunes.

He is said to have an agreement with Sandro Rosell, who hopes to unseat Laporta as president in Barcelona elections next summer.

Adebayor Named African Player Of The Year

Togo international Emmanuel Adebayor was Tuesday night named CAF African Player of the Year for 2008 at an elaborate awards ceremony in Lagos.

Adebayor beat Mohamed Aboutrika of Egypt and Ghana’s Michael Essien to win the prestigious award, which involved voting by the national team coaches of CAF’s member-nations.

“This is a special night for me. I dedicate this award to my mum, without her, I would be nothing. My father is no more but where ever he is, he will be proud of me,” said Adebayor, who was accompanied by his mother.

Adebayor took away a crystal trophy and a cash prize of $20,000.

This is the first time that a Togolese will be voted as Africa’s best player.

The Arsenal star's exploits of the past year were mainly with his English Premier League club. In the absence of France international Thierry Henry, who moved to Spanish club Barcelona, the Togo star stepped up to finish the season with an impressive tally of 30 goals.

The striker also inspired Togo to reach the final qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations.

The awards night was graced by many dignitaries including FIFA president Joseph Blatter and CAF president Issa Hayatou.

Ahly’s Aboutrika got a consolation prize as the Inter-Club Player of the Year.

Several other Egyptians won various award categories. Egypt coach, Hassan Shehata was Africa’s Coach of the Year, and the team he led to successfully defend the Nations Cup in Accra last year were picked as the best national team on the continent.

Ahly were crowned Club of the Year ahead of Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien, who defended the CAF Confederation Cup, and beaten CAF Champions League finalists, Cotonsport from Cameroon.

Salomon Kalou of Ivory Coast and Chelsea was the CAF Young Player of the Year ahead of Cameroon’s Stephane Mbia and Nigerian forward Victor Obinna Nsofor.

The list of award winners:

CAF Player of the Year

Emmanuel Adebayor - Togo/Arsenal

CAF Young Player

Salomon Kalou - Ivory Coast/Chelsea

CAF Female Player

Alice Matlou - South Africa

National Team of the Year

Egypt

Coach of the Year

Hassan Shehata - Egypt

Best Club

Ahly - Egypt

Inter-Club Player of the Year

Mohamed Aboutrika - Al Ahly

African Legend

Christian Chukwu - Nigeria

Arsene Wenger 'Hopeful' Of Bringing Arshavin To Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has intimated that the attempt to bring Andrei Arshavin to North London is moving forward, but negotiations are at a delicate stage despite the Frenchman's optimism

When quizzed as to where the Gunners were on their quest to sign the Russian, Wenger responded: "Nowhere. That means we are not close to signing anybody.

"We know what we want to do, but we are not close to signing anybody today because I would tell you [if we were]. But I have no basic news."

The Frenchman also maintained a dignified front when questioned further as to the details of the offer made by Arsenal to Zenit St Petersburg for the Russian.

"Again, we are in negotiation - yes. But we want to respect our principles," he asserted.

Regarding whether Arsenal had returned to Zenit with an improved bid for Arshavin, Wenger was poker-faced. "Nothing to disclose on that front," was his stony response.

But as to whether he remained optimisitic that a deal could be done in the next few days, Wenger was upbeat.

"I'm very hopeful; days, yes," he continued, "because the transfer market closes on January 31 and I haven't crossed halfway so it will be days."

As for the recent frenzy surrounding the transfer window and the hysteria surrounding Kaka's possible move to the Premier League, Wenger remained aloof, claiming that what happened "on a football pitch" was of far more importance to him.

He also attempted to pull the focus away from acquiring new players, insisting that working with the players already at the club and improving them was key.

"We can improve with the players we have," he stated.

Arsenal Step Up Chase For Barcelona’s Toure

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger is desperately searching for a central midfielder in the January transfer window after learning that influential captain Cesc Fabregas will be out of action for up to four months with a serious knee injury.

Barcelona-based daily, Sport believes that the Gunners are about to raid the Catalans again, although they are not looking for someone from their cantera (youth system) this time around.

Ivory Coast midfielder Toure Yaya has been strongly linked with Arsenal and Juventus over the past few months and it appears that the London-based outfit are finally preparing to make their move as they seek a replacement for Fabregas.

It is reported that the Blaugrana have set a price of around €8.5 million for the 25-year-old defensive midfielder, who is equally adept at attacking.

Wenger have also been keeping a close eye on Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso, Villarreal’s Marcos Senna and Udinese’s Gokhan Inler.

Samir Nasri Makes Arsenal Return

Arsenal could close the gap on league leaders Liverpool to just five points should they claim a win when 'Pool visit north London on Sunday.

So far though this season the Gunners have had to battle with numerous injuries to key personnel, but now they are slowly getting their pivotal players back.

Eduardo da Silva, for instance, made a comeback this week in a reserve game, but was taken off at half-time after pulling his hamstring. The Crozilian forward is now expected to be back at the turn of the year.

Nearing Full Fitness

Summer signing Samir Nasri, who made an instant impact on his debut by scoring a goal after three minutes against West Bromwich Albion on the opening day of the season, will likely make the squad for the Liverpool game, while Ivorian centre back Kolo Toure is a near-certainty to miss it.

"There is a 95 per cent chance that Nasri will be available against Liverpool and a five per cent chance that Kolo Toure will come back," manager Arsene Wenger told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday.

"We also have a problem with Nicklas Bendtner, who picked up a knee injury in training. But we don’t know 100 per cent on that."

Chiellini To Sign For Arsenal?

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Juventus could find it hard to hold onto Giorgio Chiellini in the summer as Arsenal are keen on the defender's services.

Reports in England and Italy have been rife with speculation, and Sportmediaset claims the Gunners are keeping a close eye on the Italian international.

Chiellini's consistency and age - he is just 24-years-old - have gone down well with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and a move at the end of the season could take off.

Although the north London side have laid eyes on the stopper, they may be disappointed as it was only on Monday that his brother Claudio Chiellini exclusively told Goal.com that no move is planned.

"Giorgio signed a renewal in July with Juventus and, even though I am not his agent, I can tell you that there is a difference between talking about a deal and actually doing one," Chiellini said.

"I think that a departure is just pure fantasy."

The former Fiorentina man has been outstanding for the Bianconeri, but it's unlikely Juve will consider selling him given their Scudetto and Champions League ambitions this season.

Eduardo Finally Returns From Injury

Eduardo hit the post on his return to action for Arsenal reserves last night.

The Brazilian-born Croatia striker played 45 minutes in a 2-0 win over Portsmouth reserves at Underhill in his first competitive match since his horrific leg and ankle injuries in February.

He headed one chance over the bar and then saw his shot tipped on to the post by Pompey keeper Asmir Begovic before going off at the break.

Eduardo said: "At the moment I am better and I feel very happy.

"I came off at half time because I felt something in my hamstring but I think it will be all right in two weeks.

"The situation with my injury is very hard for me but I have to forget everything bad in my life."

The Gunners won with goals from Mark Randall and Kieran Gibbs.