Arsene Wenger has paved the way for Chelsea to bid for Emmanuel Adebayor by publicly admitting that he would have no objections to
selling an Arsenal player directly to one of their 'Big Four' rivals.
Speaking at a fans' forum on the day it was reported that Chelsea were preparing to sell Didier Drogba and had identified Adebayor as their preferred replacement, Wenger blamed the abuse the Togo striker has endured from the Emirates crowd for his slump in form but offered Chelsea significant encouragement that he would be prepared to sell.
"I believe he has been disturbed by bad feelings from the fans because he was close to leaving and it unsettled him a little bit. I don't want to go especially into any individual assessment of who we want to keep and who not, at the moment, and normally Adebayor is part of our plans for the future," Wenger said.
"And, if I feel that a player should go, or could go, why not sell him to one of the other top four? It's unusual, but we sold Ashley Cole to Chelsea and we bought William Gallas so you can never say I never do it."
Speculation linking Adebayor with Chelsea is bound to increase substantially in the coming weeks if, as expected, Carlo Ancelotti leaves AC Milan to take over at Stamford Bridge. Last summer, the Italians are understood to have bid in excess of £30m for Adebayor with the player likening the situation to be coveted by the delectable Beyonce.
Asked if he regretted not cashing in on Adebayor 12 months ago, Wenger's response suggested that only the departures of Alex Hleb and Mathieu Flamini persuaded him to retain Adebayor.
"In this path you are always in a very delicate position. I cannot tell you all the truth, what happened behind the scenes, and secondly, when you want to keep the players, you keep the players, you do not really look at how much money you get.
"What was not planned was to lose Flamini last year and to lose Hleb, and so I thought, if we lose Flamini and Hleb, for example, and Adebayor, and Rosicky gets injured, people will say: 'This guy has gone completely mad'."
Speaking at a fans' forum on the day it was reported that Chelsea were preparing to sell Didier Drogba and had identified Adebayor as their preferred replacement, Wenger blamed the abuse the Togo striker has endured from the Emirates crowd for his slump in form but offered Chelsea significant encouragement that he would be prepared to sell.
"I believe he has been disturbed by bad feelings from the fans because he was close to leaving and it unsettled him a little bit. I don't want to go especially into any individual assessment of who we want to keep and who not, at the moment, and normally Adebayor is part of our plans for the future," Wenger said.
"And, if I feel that a player should go, or could go, why not sell him to one of the other top four? It's unusual, but we sold Ashley Cole to Chelsea and we bought William Gallas so you can never say I never do it."
Speculation linking Adebayor with Chelsea is bound to increase substantially in the coming weeks if, as expected, Carlo Ancelotti leaves AC Milan to take over at Stamford Bridge. Last summer, the Italians are understood to have bid in excess of £30m for Adebayor with the player likening the situation to be coveted by the delectable Beyonce.
Asked if he regretted not cashing in on Adebayor 12 months ago, Wenger's response suggested that only the departures of Alex Hleb and Mathieu Flamini persuaded him to retain Adebayor.
"In this path you are always in a very delicate position. I cannot tell you all the truth, what happened behind the scenes, and secondly, when you want to keep the players, you keep the players, you do not really look at how much money you get.
"What was not planned was to lose Flamini last year and to lose Hleb, and so I thought, if we lose Flamini and Hleb, for example, and Adebayor, and Rosicky gets injured, people will say: 'This guy has gone completely mad'."
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