Adebayor left fuming after Lyon pulls plug on transfer
Emmanuel Adebayor has slammed Lyon after the French side retracted its interest in signing the Togo international.
The former Arsenal, Manchester City, and Tottenham striker appeared to be on the brink of signing with the Ligue 1 outfit as a free agent until Lyon pulled the plug because of Adebayor's intention to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
Though he apparently was not told why Lyon pulled the plug on the deal, Adebayor blasted the French side during an interview with L'Equipe.
"They said that? That's nonsense," Adebayor said to the French outlet, as translated by ESPN FC.
"They came to me after we had qualified (for the African Nations Cup), so they knew I was going to play. If they start looking for such excuses, they will kill themselves. I'm the captain of my country, so how could I not go? What if a Frenchman refused to play in the Euros?
Related: Lyon drops interest in tardy Adebayor
"OL spoke to Claude Le Roy, my coach with Togo, and they didn't ask for special treatment. This was absolutely never a reason there was no deal."
According to Adebayor, Lyon didn't even tell him. It was Togo coach Claude Le Roy who informed the 32-year-old after reading L'Equipe.
"I found out (the move was off) on Saturday morning. Claude Le Roy told me he had seen it in L'Equipe. I called my agent who more or less confirmed it to me. Terms were agreed on Tuesday. Lyon wanted to send me a private jet to Lome (the capital of Togo).
"I couldn't leave the same evening because Lome is not Paris - there are not flights every 30 minutes. I had things to sort on Wednesday too. So I arrived on Friday morning at 10:30 to speak to the coach. I thought it was just a medical then to sign. Even if I wasn't in the squad, I would have gone to Marseille to support the team and see how they play.
Adebayor added that, after arriving in Lyon last week, he had a peculiar meeting with coach Bruno Genesio, who asked him a variety questions concerning his personal life and why things had not worked out at his previous team, Crystal Palace.
The manager also appeared to be hesitant to give him a tour of the team's stadium.
" ... imagine (Arsenal manager Arsene) Wenger asking someone if he could give me a tour of the Arsenal training centre," he said.
Adebayor and Togo will begin their Africa Cup of Nations campaign when the competition kicks off in January.