EX-ARSENAL striker Nicklas Bendtner has lifted the lid on his incredible feud with ‘odd fish’ Emmanuel Adebayor at Arsenal.
The Dane became a regular fixture in the Gunners’ first-team setup in 2007, after returning from a successful loan spell at Birmingham City.
At the time, Adebayor was top dog up front for Arsene Wenger’s men, since the departure of Thierry Henry.
With Bendtner awarded the No26 jersey, and Adebayor donning 25, their lockers were next to each other in the dressing room.
But that didn’t lead to a harmonious friendship.
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On the Togolese striker that he ‘couldn’t stand’, Bendtner wrote in his new book, in an excerpt for the Mail: “A new set of rules apply when I return from a loan season at Birmingham City.
“Like taking off your outdoor footwear before coming inside. That’s one that Emmanuel Adebayor is really into.
“I’ve been given a locker right next to him because I’ve been given squad number 26, while he plays with 25 on his back.
“The man from Togo with his long, thin braids is an odd fish who takes some things more seriously than everyone else put together.
“When he’s mucking around himself it’s another story entirely. One morning he’s put on my training kit and put his own in my place. When I discover this, he whispers to me with a shake of his head: ‘Then you’ll just have to use mine instead, Nicklas. It’s too late to change now.’
“‘Nicklas’, ‘Nicklas’, always with ‘Nicklas’. He uses my name as if he were talking to a small child, and it triggers something in me.
“Maybe it’s a culture clash — the Africans mostly stick together. On the other hand, I get along pretty well with Emmanuel Eboue and Kolo Toure. It’s only Adebayor I can’t stand.”
Relations didn’t improve between the strikers, and by the time the Gunners met Tottenham in the 2008 League Cup semi-finals, things had reached breaking point.
Bendtner, now 32, continued: “Tottenham again, in the semi-final of the Carling Cup.
“After drawing the first leg 1-1 at the Emirates, we’re 4-0 down. Arsene Wenger sends Eduardo and Adebayor on.
“On the way past me, Adebayor shouts that it’s my fault he has to come on and waste his energy: ‘I’m here because you’re playing like s***.’
“It’s not especially encouraging, and shortly after when we win a corner, we both seek out the back post. There’s a lot of pushing and jostling, and suddenly we’re fighting each other.
“We push back and forth while the Tottenham players watch in puzzlement. Afterwards, Adebayor claims I gave him the finger, but I don’t remember that.
“What I do remember is him sticking his head forward. That’s the thing with him. He behaves illogically. Completely unpredictably.
“I don’t know if it’s totally deliberate, but it feels like a headbutt right on the bridge of my nose. The blood gushes out and my nose swells up. As if it’s not big enough already.
“William Gallas rushes over and pulls us apart. But Adebayor isn’t done with me. He has to be escorted away while the referee books him.
“When the final whistle is blown, our arch-rivals have won 5-1. It’s our biggest derby defeat in an eternity, and no one on the team can bear it. Of course, personally I blame Adebayor, which is probably overdoing it.
“But I really want to get hold of him for a quiet tete-a-tete, and I guess the feeling is mutual, because one of the coaching staff has to hold him back in the players’ tunnel.
“When we finally clash in the dressing room, we have a lot of s*** to say to each other. Things I wouldn’t be able to utter 12 years later. Neither of us is holding back, and it has consequences. The boss fines us both two weeks’ wages.”
