PREMIER LEAGUE
Adebayor: "I have nothing to prove at Palace"
Crystal Palace's new signing Emmanuel Adebayor spoke about joining the South London outfit after making his Selhurst Park debut last night.
Adebayor said he has nothing to prove and does not deserve a reputation of being a disruptive influence in the dressing room.
The Togo striker, who joined his fourth Premier League club last week, made his debut in Tuesday's 2-1 Premier League defeat by relegation-threatened Bournemouth.
Prior to his move to Palace, the 31-year-old was a free agent after being released by Tottenham Hotspur in the close season and had played just 17 minutes of top-flight football in a little over a year.
"There is a bad reputation about Adebayor. But if you ask every single manager that I have worked under, maybe just one or two would say I am a bad apple in the dressing room," Adebayor told the Evening Standard newspaper.
"I just want to play football and have happy moments again. I do not have anything to prove. I just want to enjoy my football. I have been there and done it and I am pleased to be back."
Adebayor said he had held talks with manager Alan Pardew over taking a leadership role in the Palace camp. "He said I have to be a leader, which means I have to set an example. Which means I have to come on time in training, do my job professionally and that is what I am doing," the former Arsenal striker said.
"Football is something I love doing and I want to enjoy it."