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Tottenham Hotspur fans got some bad news this past week. The club will now, probably, be without striker Emmanuel Adebayor for the latter part of January and early February because Togo managed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations. Fortunately for Spurs, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Cameroon did not qualify for the tournament.
The first match of the African Cup of Nations will be played on January 19th and the final will be played on February 10th. That means nearly a month without Adebayor for Spurs. That stretch includes matches against Manchester United, , Norwich City, West Brom, and Newcastle. There may also be some UEFA Cup or FA Cup matches in there as well.
Obviously, not having Adebayor for the Newcastle and Manchester United games seems like the biggest blow. This will, once again, leave the team with only one senior striker. This could change between the beginning of the transfer window in January and the time Adebayor leaves, but that seems a bit unlikely. One thing to bear in mind is that popular transfer target (at least here at Cartilage Free Captain) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Gabon did not qualify for the tournament and thus could be a solution.
There will be way more striker rumors circulating between now and January, but the African Cup of Nations poses and important consideration. Jermain Defoe has performed well thus far in his role as lone striker, but many don't seem to keen on him continuing in that role. For a run of four matches (assuming Togo make it to the championship) Tottenham would probably be fine without Adebayor. The only concern is if Defoe gets injured before the ACoN, then Tottenham might be in deep trouble.
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