Emmanuel Adebayor will consider transfer to Tottenham
Thursday 12 May 2011
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Emmanuel Adebayor would still consider a move to Tottenham this summer despite claiming to have been targeted by "racist" chanting from Spurs fans during last month's Champions League quarter-final.
Adebayor scored twice to put his temporary club on their way to a 4-0 victory over Spurs in the first leg at the Bernabeu, but the former Arsenal striker's night was tinged with disappointment after suffering abuse from the travelling fans.
Supporters of the north London club sang a chant which includes the line: "Your dad washes elephants, your mother's a whore" - something which Adebayor claims is racist.
Tottenham condemned the song, but deny it is racist in nature and UEFA confirmed after the match that no action would be taken against the club.
Adebayor, who spent three years at Arsenal, was on the verge of moving to their north London rivals in January before he joined Real Madrid on loan for the rest of the season.
The Togo striker could return to City or another Barclays Premier League side this summer, and he would not let the chanting put him off a move to White Hart Lane.
"I heard about the chants and I felt so bad because before joining Real Madrid, my first choice was Tottenham," Adebayor told Football Focus.
"When I heard the songs I didn't take it seriously. I didn't take it in a bad way at all but it was bad because people today have to realise that we are footballers. Today we play for this club and the next day we might end up playing for them.
"I would go there and sign for them. Maybe those fans were furious because I was scoring against them. Maybe they were thinking like that because Adebayor was taking them out of the Champions League and ending their dream of getting to the final."
Spurs operate a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to racism, and recently embarked upon a campaign alongside the Kick it Out group to stamp out anti-Semitic chanting at their games.
Adebayor, whose loan spell comes to an end next month, still wants Tottenham to do more to deter their supporters from racist chanting though.
"Fans have to try to control their emotions, as we do as footballers," he added. "They have to tell the fans: 'please, try to control your emotions. We are all human beings'.
"What is the point in going into a stand and singing a song that you know is racist and then going out into the street and saying to me: 'I'm not racist, come to Tottenham'.
"Football is a game. Don't get me wrong, there is money and other things in it too, but it's still only a game."
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