Man City target swap deal with Spurs for Adebayor
Published:Manchester City are running out of options in their quest to sell Emmanuel Adebayor, but they are interested in doing a swap deal with Tottenham for Aaron Lennon.
Tottenham are one of just a few teams still monitoring Adebayor, but Harry Redknapp had previously stated that he was only interested in a loan deal because of the Togo striker’s extortionate wage demands.
Real Madrid were the other team linked after Adebayor’s relatively successful loan stint at the Bernabeu in the second half of last season.
However, Real Madrid have so far been reluctant to meet Manchester City’s asking price of around £12m, while Cristiano Ronaldo insists that the Spanish giants do not require any more strikers to challenge Barcelona in La Liga this season.
Manchester City are desperate to get Adebayor’s wages of their books, but are keen not to miss an opportunity to improve their own squad in the process.
Some added depth in the wide areas would not go amiss for Roberto Mancini and according to the Daily Mirror, the Manchester City manager is an admirer of Lennon.
With wages and transfer fees liable to involve a lot of discussion and compromise, a swap deal involving the pair could prove complicated, but one certainty is that Spurs will value Lennon higher than Adebayor.
Aston Villa sold Stewart Downing to Liverpool earlier this summer for £20m and Spurs would expect this sum as a minimum for Lennon.
Thus, Manchester City could have to give up Adebayor and £10m if they are to even tempt Tottenham into a deal.
Tottenham are 11/4 in the Premier League betting to break back into the top four this season and the above-mentioned deal could prove a shrewd bit of business in achieving this ambition, assuming they could use the money to buy a replacement for Lennon.
