Spurs striker turned down huge wage increase to stay in North London

The big story at the very end of the window for Tottenham Hotspur was that Daniel Levy had scuppered Emmanuel Adebayor's loan to West Ham by refusing to subsidize the striker's wages. Levy had been prepared to cover some of Adebayor's salary if he had accepted a loan to Queens Park Rangers, but Adebayor turned that down. Now it turns out there was another option that would have more than covered the Togolese forward's wage demands. The Evening Standard reports that the Qatari league was in for Ade on some seriously stupid money:

Standard Sport understands Adebayor received offers from Qatari clubs that would have made him considerably wealthier.

The former Arsenal player is thought to have turned down one deal that would have earned him £130,000 a week after tax. That equates to a gross weekly salary of about £245,000 — more than double what Adebayor is currently on at Tottenham.

Given that Adebayor did not want to move to QPR, it's not terribly surprising he also did not feel like falling off the football world and taking one last paycheck in Qatar. He still believes in his ability to compete at the highest level. That's confidence you need to be a good striker, but it seems unlikely right now that it's confidence grounded in reality. After another couple of months struggling to get more than scattered cup minutes, stupid money in Qatar may be Adebayor's destination this summer.