The Borneo Post (Sabah)

Lyon drop interest in tardy Adebayor

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LYON: Lyon will not be pursuing negotiatio­ns for veteran striker Emmanuel Adebayor after he stalled on his arrival, the French club said on Saturday.

In a brief statement the Ligue 1 side said the 32-year-old had “delayed his arrival in Lyon since the beginning of the week before coming to Parc OL on Friday to have talks with coach Bruno Genesio”.

It added that free agent Adebayor “also wanted to play the Africa Cup of Nations with Togo at the beginning of 2017, which would have led to an absence of one to two months”.

Lyon signed striker JeanPhilip­pe Mateta on Thursday from French lower league side Chateaurou­x, and while the 19year-old is not eligible for the Champions League, he can play domestic competitio­ns -- which would have also been the case for Adebayor.

And with attacking midfielder­s Mathieu Valbuena and Nabil Fekir set to return for the visit of Montpellie­r on Wednesday, Genesio opted against signing the veteran.

Adebayor is without a club after scoring just one goal for Crystal Palace in a six-month spell with the Premier League club last season.

Adebayor played arguably the best football of his career in the Premier League with Arsenal and Manchester City.

He moved on loan to Real Madrid for six months in January 2011 and although he returned to City, the Togo internatio­nal was subsequent­ly sent on loan to Tottenham the following season.

Adebayor secured a permanent deal in 2012 and was Spurs’s top scorer with 14 goals from 25 appearance­s, but was released by the club in September 2015.

He also played for French clubs Metz and Monaco at the start of his career. - AFP

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