Football Talk - Real Madrid sign Adebayor
Real Madrid have signed Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor on loan until the end of the season, with a view to a permanent transfer.
The Spanish club confirmed on their website they had reached an agreement with "a unilateral option'' to complete the purchase of Adebayor, for a fee reported to be in the region of £18 million, in the summer.
Their statement read: "Real Madrid CF and Manchester City FC have reached a deal that will see Emmanuel Adebayor play on loan for the former club. The player will remain at Real Madrid until the end of the current season, at which point the club hold a unilateral option to purchase the player.''
Adebayor, 26, joined City from Arsenal in a £25 million deal just 18 months ago, but the Togo international's has been a peripheral figure since Roberto Mancini replaced Mark Hughes as manager.
The arrival of Mario Balotelli from Inter in the summer shunted Adebayor further down the pecking order and the signing of Edin Dzeko earlier this month appears to have ended his City career. Real have signed the forward as cover for Gonzalo Higuain, who is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a back injury.
Mourinho has been after a target man for Real Madrid and from the looks of things, he has finally gotten his man. The Manchester City striker may not be the short-term solution that Madrid fans were hoping for in the January transfer window but Adebayor will offer a potential solution to the strike-force problem Mourinho has been complaining about.
It was beginning to look like Mourinho's demands for a striker were to be ignored. In recent weeks, the Portuguese coach has not looked happy as his requests were seemingly being ignored by the higher ranks at the Bernabeu. He has insisted that his club will not be able to compete until they get an extra striker. The job now will be to make sure Adebayor does what he is required to do.
For now though, Mourinho has no more excuses. He has his man and it's now time for the 'Men in White' to get back to business...
