Grieving Emmanuel Adebayor demoted by Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas

EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR will fl y back from compassionate leave following the death of his brother Peter and be told to train with the kids.

 

Adebayor had returned to the club after the death of his younger brother in July [ACTION IMAGES]

Andre Villas-Boas says he does not want the Togo striker, who earns about £100,000 a week, to join with the main squad until it is “appropriate” after missing a large slice of pre-season.


At the same time, the Tottenham boss admitted trying to sell the 29-year-old during the summer, only to be scuppered by the player’s refusal to leave.

Adebayor, above, had initially returned to the club following the death of his younger brother in July and declared he was ready to fight for the right to lead Tottenham’s forward line.

However, he has since returned to Africa and has been given authorisation to stay until after tomorrow’s clash with Norwich.

And when asked if there was any chance Adebayor would play for Tottenham again, Villas-Boas was unwilling to proclaim it any more than just “a possibility”.

“He will continue with the development team until I feel it is appropriate and we feel that the player is ready,” said Villas-Boas.

“The players who are already with us have had a more fluid pre-season. It hasn’t been the case with Ade.” Pointedly, his name had been overlooked when Villas-Boas claimed that “in Roberto Soldado and Jermain Defoe we have two great goalscorers”.

“There were opportunities for him to leave in the summer,” added Villas-Boas. “He was not interested in them, so he didn’t.”

Villas-Boas admitted trying to sell Adebayor in the summer [GETTY]

He will continue with the development team until I feel it is appropriate and we feel that the player is ready

Andre Villas-Boas

Villas-Boas will include full-back Kyle Walker, who has had a difficult international break after a poor display against Ukraine followed revelations he took nitrous oxide at a party during the summer. “I spoke with Kyle before the story came out,” he said.

“He knows he failed as a role model towards young people and I don’t think we will see the incident again. He seems in the right state of mind.”

Villas-Boas also believes that £30million Argentina international Erik Lamela may need some time to adapt to the Premier League and a new country.

“He’s going to suffer problems of adaptation because he doesn’t speak a word of English.

He has to adapt to a different culture and mentality and we’re unsure of how much time it will take,” said Villas-Boas. “The fact he has yet to train with the team puts him in a very difficult position to start the Norwich game, but it is not impossible.”