Emmanuel Adebayor has said his move to Premier League side Crystal Palace in 2016 was the ‘worst decision’ of his career.
The 33-year-old former Manchester City and Tottenham forward joined Palace on a six-month loan spell in January last year.
But he was released at the end of that season after scoring just once in 15 appearances, and Adebayor admits the move could not have gone any worse.
‘I had some great experiences in England in clubs who are among the best in the country,’ said Adebayor, who currently plays for Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir.
‘The only error that I made was to sign for Crystal Palace in January 2016.
‘I did it just to please my entourage, who were saying to me: “Manu, you have to start playing again!” It was the worst decision of my career.’
Adebayor, who is now 33 years old, scored 97 goals and made 37 assists during his time in the Premier League, in which he played for Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham before his short spell at Selhurst Park.
The Togolese veteran had his best season in 2007/08, when he did a fine job of replacing Thierry Henry at the Emirates by scoring 24 Premier League goals.
Soon, however, he agitated his way to a £25million move to Manchester City, but never lived up to the hype at the Etihad Stadium. In fact, he managed only 15 league goals before being offloaded to Tottenham first on loan and then permanently in 2013.
Again, things would start off well before turning sour at White Hart Lane. Failure to win the favour of Mauricio Pochettino saw Adebayor relegated to the role of squad player before he was finally released from his £100,000-a-week contract in 2015.
He finished his Tottenham career with 37 Premier League goals to his name, 17 of which were scored during his season-long loan spell in 2011/12.
Currently, Adebayor is with Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir, who finished second in the Super Lig behind Besiktas.
