It could ultimately push himself down the pecking order for a starting place, but Jermain Defoe is eager to see Emmanuel Adebayor back in first team contention.
The Togo international made a huge impact at Tottenham Hotspur during the course of the 2011/12 season, when he helped them finish fourth in the Premier League. This prompted the Londoners to make his loan move from Manchester City permanent, handing him a three-year contract after paying £5million for his signature last summer.
Adebayor failed to rediscover his best form last season, though, scoring five goals in 25 appearances compared to the 17 strikes in his debut campaign. And with Andre Villas-Boas spending £25million on Spanish international Roberto Soldado in the summer, the former Arsenal forward is now considered to be nothing more than an understudy.
The 29-year-old has yet to feature for Spurs this season, and was recently granted compassionate leave following the death of his brother. Upon his return he has been ordered to train with the reserves to build up his fitness, but his strike pal Defoe believes Villas-Boas needs to integrate the African back into the first team fold sharpish.
“I don’t think it helps the team, to be honest,” he told Sky Sports. “He’s a great player and has played for some of the top clubs in the world and is someone that we’re going to need. We will need his goals and what he brings to the team. He’s keeping himself fit, he’s a happy guy, he loves his football, and hopefully he’ll be back soon with the team.”
Tottenham have made a promising start to the new season, despite losing Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in a world record £85million deal. The defeat to Arsenal may have been a tough one for the supporters to swallow, but they have collected maximum points in their other three fixtures. And with the likes of Soldado, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela added to the squad, there is plenty of reason for optimism at White Hart Lane.
