Tractor Miss Out On Adebayor

We have disappointing news for anyone who was hoping to see a huge name from the past of the English Premier League and La Liga making appearances in the Persian Gulf Pro League this season - Emmanuel Adebayor has opted against a move to Tractor SC. The legendary Togolese striker had been heavily linked with a move to Iran - especially in the English press - but a last-minute opportunity to remain in Turkey has turned his head. 

Adebayor, who spent the bulk of his career at Arsenal before later joining Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur, would have been available as a free agent following the end of his most recent contract at Turkish side Basaksehir. It's understood that Tractor was prepared to offer the striker a two-year deal which would have made him the highest-paid player in Iranian league history. The club saw him as an upgrade from the recently-departed Anthony Stokes, who had some Premier League experience from his days with Sunderland, but was never on the same level as Adebayor.

There appears to have been some substance to the rumors, and based on the player's online behavior, a move must have been close at one point. When a news story connecting his name with Tractor SC started to become popular on Instagram, Adebayor shared the story, which led many Tractor fans to believe the deal was almost done. A fully-fit and on-form Adebayor could have been a difference-maker in terms of the side's ambitions for the season - they were disappointed with their fifth place last season, and will be looking for major improvements this term as they seek to reclaim the sort of standing that their history and fanbase demands of Tractor teams. Now, with a month remaining of the transfer window and the season already underway, they will have to look elsewhere for a marquee signing. 

While signing a player of Adebayor’s profile would have been a major coup for both Tractor and the league in general, it may not have been a guarantee of success. Adebayor has shown throughout his career that he’s a fine player when he’s on form, but he’s also mercurial and unpredictable. There are more possible permutations to putting Adebayor on a football field than there are in a mobile slots game site or related casinos. Indeed, if you were playing the Striker Goes Wild mobile slots game, you’d probably feel you had more control over the outcome of your bets than a football team manager finds that they have command over Adebayor’s performances.  More to the point, a losing bet on a mobile slots game would likely only cost you a little small change. Adebayor may not have come with a transfer fee, but the projected cost of his wages would be substantial. Adebayor is accustomed to being paid well in excess of $100,000 per week. That’s the sort of outlay that Tractor wouldn’t be able to take a gamble on, and at 35, his best days on the pitch might be behind him. 

During his best years with Arsenal he was a regular goalscorer, but found it difficult to consistently get into the first team after his move to Manchester City. City loaned him out to Real Madrid where he scored goals, but didn't do enough for the club to offer him a permanent move. He then impressed again on loan from City to Tottenham Hotspur, but his form tailed off after his switch there became permanent. His time in England ended with an unsuccessful stint at Crystal Palace, during which he scored only one Premier League goal. During those later years, he frequently found himself having disciplinary issues with the teams he played for. He also walked away from his national team multiple times, only to eventually return again. 

Since leaving England and heading to Turkey, he appears to have been happier. He joined Baseksahir in January 2017 and scored a hat-trick shortly after his debut, adding several more goals as his new team put in excellent performances to beat better-known sides like Galatasaray. He extended his stay with the club through to the end of the 2018-2019 season, after which Baseksahir decided he no longer merited a new deal on account of his age. That's when talk of a move to Iran began, but it ultimately Kayserispor stepped in to keep him in Turkey. His new contract is for a single season, so the nomadic striker will once again be available this time next year if he decides to continue his career as a player. 

Whether Adebayor’s signing would have been a positive step for Iranian football is a matter for debate. While high-quality foreign players should always be welcome, the league will not wish to develop an image as somewhere that stars of yesteryear come to play when they’re many years past their prime, as has become the case for the competitions in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Although the league has undoubtedly become stronger in recent seasons, it has improved largely using Iranian players, and younger players elsewhere who are of an equivalent talent and reputation to their Iranian teammates. As was the case when David Beckham joined LA Galaxy from Real Madrid, the arrival of a superstar player in a lesser-known league can sometimes have undesirable consequences in the form of a media side-show, and Tractor may not have welcomed the international spotlight. 

The very fact that Tractor was interested in Adebayor at all suggests that the club has entered the market for well-known players who may still have something to prove, or something still in the tank to give. As there are many former international players of various nationalities who are still looking for a club after the close of the English transfer window - and with the window across much of Europe shortly due to close also - it may be the case that a familiar name turns up in Iran before the start of October. If that does happen, only time will tell if it's Tractor breaking from the norm, or the dawn of a new era in player recruitment for the Persian Gulf Pro League.