Emmanuel Adebayor has looked back on his time at City, saying his generation helped start a project that would eventually deliver Premier League and Champions League success.
Adebayor joined City from Arsenal in the summer of 2009, less than a year after the Abu Dhabi takeover and during a period of major change at the club.
He was no longer part of the side by the time the trophies started arriving, but has been reflecting on what followed.
Adebayor looks back at early Man City years
Speaking to Flashscore, Adebayor said: “I went to Arsenal to be champions. I couldn’t make it happen.
“I went to Manchester City. We started the project of winning championships, winning the Champions League. We couldn’t make it happen. Those who follow us are making it happen now. We can only be happy for them.”
Adebayor made an immediate impact after joining City, scoring 14 goals in 26 Premier League appearances during his first season.
His second campaign was very different. After falling down the pecking order, he joined Real Madrid on loan in January 2011 and spent the following season on loan at Tottenham before leaving City permanently in 2012.
City won the FA Cup later in the same season that Adebayor left for Madrid, before claiming their first Premier League title in 2011/12. The Champions League took considerably longer, finally arriving in 2023 as part of Pep Guardiola’s Treble.
Adebayor did not collect any of those trophies during his time at City. Seventeen years after joining the club, though, he is happy to see the players who followed finish what he believes his generation helped to start.
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