Could this be Ade-Bye-Bye?

The rumours have been running for a few days now with a persistency that makes it difficult to ignore them completely. Adebayor is joining Barcelona for a fee somewhere between £17m and £24m the Spanish press would have you believe. Though Adebayor himself claimed a week ago that he was remaining at the club a week in the murky world of football transfers is a long time. Even so the rumours don`t sit well with Wenger`s declared objective of keeping the current squad together.

The latest claims are that Adebayor has texted a couple of unnamed players at the club, probably not Bendtner I suspect, to inform them that he is a Barca player. Milan agent Ernesto Bronzetti says that the deal depends on Barca getting shot of Eto,o , Deco and Ronaldinho.

All of this is wrapped up in the politics at Barcelona where Joan Laporta faces a crucial vote of confidence at the beginning of next month. So are Barcelona just using this pursuit to shore up a flagging presidency?

Adebayor, currently in Togo, is saying little publicly but was quoted yesterday as saying, “Now is not the time to talk. It maybe necessary to say something later”. But it also seems just a little curious that the club having supposedly dismissed Milan`s approach has said nothing at all about the growing link with Barca.

Transfer rumours spring up from very little. Clichy was apparently being targeted by two Italian clubs on the same day that he was signing a new contract at the club. The club clearly can`t respond to every bit of transfer tittle-tattle but we may be reaching the point where they owe us an answer on this one sooner rather than later.

Unless it is part of a deal that brings an experienced player in it is virtually impossible to contemplate Arsene countenancing the sale of a player who still has 4 years of his contract to run. He clearly doesn`t have to sell so presumably he would only let him go if he were happy to sell. If he does go then surely it can only be as part of some greater masterplan Gooners would hope.

Adebayor`s departure would be an inconvenience to headline writers though we may very well have exhausted all possible combinations by now. Arshavin might provide some opportunities but probably only of a rather vulgar nature.