Adebayor vows to stay at Arsenal

Emmanuel Adebayor insists he wants to stay at Arsenal and intends to sign a new contract at the Emirates.

The 24-year-old Togo striker, who scored 30 goals in 48 games last season, has been heavily linked with moves to AC Milan and Barcelona.

“Now I can tell everyone that, yes, I will sign a contract,” Adebayor told the club’s official website.

“I never told anyone I would be leaving this club, never ever. I’m very happy we’ve found a solution.”

Adebayor added: “I have three years left on my contract and I’m putting two or three years more, so I’m very happy being part of this family.”

He joined the Gunners from Monaco in January 2006, but his loyalty to the club had been in question after his comments that “a lot of teams want me to play for them” earlier this summer.

But Adebayor said his his relationship with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has not been affected by the speculation over his future.

“When we started talking about my contract I never told him I’d be leaving this club and he knew my desire,” said Adebayor.

Clubs lining up for Eto’o swoop

Barcelona technical secretary Txiki Begiristain says Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o is attracting interest from “four or five big clubs”.

Eto’o had been told by Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola he is not in his plans.

Even though there are no official offers as yet, Eto’o needs to agree terms with a club before a deal can be done.

“Samuel has to have an agreement, after this we will start negotiations. He has to be happy first,” Begiristain said.

“We are waiting for this agreement. When we know we’ll know what his situation is, we will know what he can give to us.”

When asked specifically if sides from the English Premier League were interested, Begiristain replied: “Of course big clubs are interested. But this is not important. First he needs to have an agreement with a club.

“If he moves, it’ll be to a big club, of course. There are four or five clubs interested.”

The 27-year-old is not part of Guardiola’s plans as wholesale changes are carried out at Barca following the Catalan club’s second successive trophyless season.

On Thursday Barca president Joan Laporta revealed talks had taken place with Inter Milan and AC Milan over Eto’o, but insisted no offer had been made for the forward.

source:bbcsports

Arshavin move to Spurs in doubt

Andrei Arshavin’s future remains unclear following confusion over a reported bid made by Tottenham.

It is understood that Zenit St Petersburg rejected a bid from Spurs while his agent was hopeful Arshavin would be at White Hart Lane soon.

However, a source close to Tottenham said a bid had never been made.

It is also understood that the 27-year-old is one of many players, including Roman Pavlyuchenko, that the north London club are looking at.

Tottenham are believed to have had initial talks with the £15m-rated Spartak Moscow striker Pavlyuchenko last week, although no deal had been agreed.

On Thursday, Arshavin’s agent Dennis Lachter said he was confident the striker would be playing for Juande Ramos’ side.

“It is my prediction that Arshavin is going to be a Tottenham player this season,” Denis Lachter told BBC Radio Five Live on Thursday.

“He just rejected a huge, huge offer to renew his contract for another five years. He would like to leave for the Premier League.”

In July, Arshavin’s hopes of a dream move to Barcelona collapsed after the Catalan side also failed to meet Zenit’s valuation for their prize asset.

Arshavin was suspended for Russia’s opening two games at Euro 2008, but on his return helped the national team to the semi-finals, scoring two goals en route, while 26-year-old Pavlyuchenko scored three times.

source:bbcsports