Tottenham Hotspur to overlook Adebayor against Fiorentina

Mauricio Pochettino is likely to overlook Emmanuel Adebayor for the Europa League tie against Fiorentina in Italy on Thursday, prolonging the Tottenham Hotspur striker’s spell in the wilderness.


Adebayor is the forgotten man of White Hart Lane, having been excluded for the past five matches and having barely featured over the past four months or so. He has made only three appearances since 9 November and was last seen on the substitutes’ bench at Sheffield United in the Capital One Cup semi-final, second leg on 28 January, when he was left unused.

Adebayor, who was denied a loan move to West Ham United on the final day of the winter transfer window, has not travelled with the Tottenham squad to a European away fixture since October 2013, when he was an unused substitute at Sheriff Tiraspol in Moldova.

Tottenham’s last-32 game against Fiorentina stands at 1-1 after the first leg and Pochettino has described the return as a “cup final”. He must balance his selection against the demands of Sunday’s Capital One Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley. The squad will train in Florence on Friday before flying back to London.

“We need to decide [on the lineup] because we have played tough games against Fiorentina last Thursday and West Ham on Sunday,” Pochettino said. “We need to decide on the best team. Twenty-one players will be on the list for Fiorentina.”


By David Hytner, Guardian