Emmanuel Adebayor has accused Arsene Wenger of being fake and forcing him out of Arsenal.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 12: Emmanuel Adebayor of Manchester City celebrates in front of the Arsenal fans after scoring during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal at the City of Manchester Stadium on September 12, 2009 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

In 2009, Adebayor signed for Manchester City after Wenger claimed the striker had followed the money. The 33-year-old now insists this wasn’t the case and the Frenchman told him he had to leave Arsenal, even branding the boss as ‘fake’.

“Mourinho is the one of the managers I loved and will always love,” said Adebayor, who scored 62 goals in 142 games during his three years at Arsenal.

“He is one of the (most) honest managers I have met in my career, which is crazy because most of the managers are all kind of like fake.

“As an example, I had a meeting with Arsene Wenger in his office when he told me I had to leave because he doesn’t see my future any more in Arsenal. I have to move on in my life.

“I was like ‘I’m going to stay.’ He was like ‘no there is not even a fight organised. We are not going to organise any fight for you. You move out or you stay here and don’t play any games.’

“So I didn’t have any other choice than joining Man City which I was very happy to join.

“And the next day when I joined Manchester City I saw him doing a press conference in London saying that I wanted to leave because the money was big and everything and since that day that is where the hate for Arsenal came from.

“Not the fans because the fans are the first English fans to sing my name in London.

“Even today when I watch them play I want them to win but at the same time I want them to lose because the anger in me is too big.

“Mourinho is a manager that wants to win a trophy no matter what it takes, even if he has to park the bus, the train or a plane he just wants to win and will do everything it takes to win.

“He will not sleep. He will work 24 hours to win one game and Arsene just loves to bring kids in and make them become big players. He is like a teacher.”

adebayor wenger
LONDON – DECEMBER 06: Arsene Wenger manager of Arsenal talks to Emmanuel Adebayor during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Wigan Athletic at the Emirates Stadium on December 6, 2008 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

They’re massive claims and ones that contradict almost every other Arsenal players’ comments after they’ve left, no matter the circumstances.

Stuart Robson hates Arsenal but he never directly worked with Wenger and would never admit it out loud. Paul Merson can be pretty scathing in his commentary of the Gunners but nothing on this level.

As far as I know, Adebayor is the first ex-Arsenal player to actually come out and say he ‘hates’ the club.

While I’m not going to accuse Adebayor of lying, I often think the truth is somewhere in the middle. The Togo international may have been demanding more money from Arsenal and had Wenger tell him in no uncertain terms that if that’s his attitude, there’s no place for him at the club.

Of course, none of us will really know because we weren’t there.

Why Adebayor has come out with these claims now is anybody’s guess.

He’s playing for İstanbul Başakşehir at the moment and has scored 10 goals in 21 appearances.

Perhaps he’s bored.