‘He is not in my plans for the future of Tottenham’: Pochettino spells it out for Adebayor

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has made it clear Emmanuel Adebayor is not part of his plans. Jan Kruger / Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has told Emmanuel Adebayor he has no future at the London club after the Togo striker turned down a chance to leave in the recent transfer window.

Adebayor rejected moves to Aston Villa and West Ham United and Pochettino told reporters on Friday that the striker, who has been left out of Tottenham’s Premier League and Europa League squads, was unlikely to play again.

The languid forward earns around £5 million (Dh28.3m) a year according to media reports and is now set to pick up his pay cheque despite playing no role in the team.

“I was very clear with him, we had a conversation before the end of last season and I explained my idea,” Pochettino said.

“I don’t need to explain much more, I think it is clear he is not in my idea, in my mind or in the plans for the future of Tottenham.

“In football it is about the present and tomorrow, it is not about yesterday. In football it all runs quick and changes everyday, the more important thing is that I was clear with him and clear with the situation.”

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Adebayor has also fallen out of favour with Togo coach Tom Saintfiet, who likened him to a bad date and said this week that the 31-year-old had failed to respond to a call-up for an African Nations Cup qualifier.

“If you are dating a woman who does not want to respond positively, then you must look for another woman,” Saintfiet said.

“For me, it is clear that he is a player who does not want to play for his country any more.”

Tottenham have endured a poor start to the campaign, drawing three of their first four games to leave them 16th in the standings.

They visit Sunderland on Sunday still searching for their first victory of the season.

Pochettino could hand a debut to Son Heung-min who joined from Bayer Leverkusen in August and scored a hat-trick for his country South Korea during the international break.

“Son scored three goals in his game for the national team and arrived on Monday and trained very well all week,” Pochettino said of the 23-year-old.

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