Adebayor makes Real move

Manchester City have offloaded out-of-favour striker Emmanuel Adebayor in a loan deal with La Liga giants Real Madrid.

Adebayor, 26, will join Real for the remainder of the season, with an option for a 14.5 million pound transfer in the close season.

“We can confirm that the club has agreed to loan Emmanuel Adebayor to Real Madrid for the rest of the season,” a statement on City’s website said.

“The player will travel to Spain on Wednesday to have a medical. Madrid have an option to purchase the 26-year-old at the end of his temporary spell in the Spanish capital.”

City’s reluctance to contribute to the player’s wages are understood to have delayed his departure.

But with Gonzalo Higuain ruled out for up to three months, Real’s desperate need for a centre forward has forced them to pay all of Adebayor’s reported 165,000 pound-a-week salary.

Their failure to secure the return of Ruud Van Nistelrooy from Hamburg also contributed to the decision to bring in Adebayor.

The deal represents a victory of sorts for coach Jose Mourinho, who has been at loggerheads with director of football Jorge Valdano over the need for striking reinforcements.

Adebayor joined English Premier League outfit City from Arsenal in July 2009 for a fee believed to be approximately 25 million pounds.

He scored 19 goals in 35 appearances for the club, but has fallen behind new arrivals Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko in the battle to partner captain Carlos Tevez in attack.

The former Togo international becomes the latest purchase of former City manager Mark Hughes to leave the club, with full-back Wayne Bridge and underused front-man Roque Santa Cruz also departing.

Shaun Wright-Phillips is understood to be next in line for an exit.

Adebayor will be available to play in the Champions League with Real despite featuring in the Europa League earlier this season.

No stranger to controversy in his short career, he may test Mourinho’s famed man-management skills upon his arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu.

After alienating Arsenal fans by agitating for a move away from the club during his final two seasons in north London, he enraged them further by celebrating provocatively upon scoring for City against the Gunners shortly after his departure.

In the same match, he was pictured raking his studs down the face of former teammate Robin van Persie.

After numerous rows with his national FA, he retired from international duty following a fatal gun attack on the Togo team bus during the 2010 African Cup of Nations.