Emmanuel Adebayor declares intent to leave Tottenham at season's end

Emmanuel Adebayor has declared his intent to leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer for a new club outside of English football, according to a report in African sports blog Star Africa. The Togolese striker has been marginalized for most of the season by Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino and finds himself currently third on the striker depth chart, behind Harry Kane and Roberto Soldado.

The report includes a quote, reportedly given to "Talk Sport":

I think it's time for me to leave Tottenham and to look for a new destination. It will not be in the English Premier League for sure. I've received many good offers to play here but I would like to have a new experience in another country.

Now, look. I've never before heard of Star Africa and certainly can't vouch for or even verify its accuracy, nor can I verify that this quote exists anywhere outside of this blog page. It's certainly nowhere to be found on the TalkSPORT website, so take this quote with an entire salt mine for now. However, the premise is certainly plausible. Ade is on high wages, barely plays, and it's not only possible but highly probable that the club is willing to ship him off to anyone who will take him (assuming that "anyone" ≠ West Ham United).

Ade has been linked to a number of Turkish clubs recently, including Bursaspor, Besiktas, and Galatasaray. As we've mentioned, Turkey would be a very good destination for a player like Ade as someone's likely to pay something comparable to his current wages, and he'd very likely be guaranteed first-team football.

We'll see if this quote pops up anywhere else or is verified. The source may be slightly #batcountry, but the sentiment behind it probably has some legs.