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Friday 13 September 2013

Adebayor nearing Spurs exit

Emmanuel Adebayor may not be a Tottenham player for much longer; Arsenal lose out in their chase of Paul Pogba; and Karim Benzema manages to take attention away from Gareth Bale - here are the stories making headlines in this morning's papers.


Spurs to freeze out Adebayor: Adebayor's time at White Hart Lane appears to be nearing an end after the striker was told to train with the reserves, reports The Times. The Togo striker will on Monday return from compassionate leave following the death of his brother but Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas will instruct him to work with the development team in a bid to force him out of the club. The paper claims Spurs were willing to sell the player over the summer, but he was not tempted by any offers that came in.
Paper Round's view: What better way to motivate a player to leave than banish him and leave him to rot the reserves? Come January, all of a sudden some of those offers might start to sound a little more interesting to Adebayor.
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Spurs fans to appeal 'Y-word' ban: The Daily Telegraph reports that Tottenham Hotspur supporters have told the FA they plan to stand against the authority's ban against them using the term "Yid". The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust said: "Our view has always been that should Spurs fans use of the ‘Yid’ identity come to an end, this should be as a result of the feeling amongst the Spurs community that it was time to naturally move on."
Paper Round's view: Threatening fans with prosecution for vocally supporting their team in a way they have done for donkey's years was never going to go down well, was it? The supporters' group is well within its rights to stand up to the FA, although a backdown over an issue that at its heart is anti-racist will now be difficult to accomplish.
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Arsenal miss out in Pogba chase: Juventus are set to offer Frenchman Pogba a double-your-money offer to prevent him from returning to the Premier League, according to the Daily Mirror. The former Manchester United midfielder has been targeted by Arsenal, but Juve are determined to hang on to him, the paper claims.
Paper Round's view: Is it still okay to make jokes about Arsenal missing out on transfer targets after their capture of Mesut Ozil? Either way, the Gunners should not be too concerned about this failure - and instead focus on capturing a striker in January.
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'Nothing in Agbonlahor's vomit-inducing tackle': Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has defended striker Gabby Agbonlahor after the striker's challenge ended One Direction star Louis Tomlinson's participation in a charity match. The Daily Mail recounts how Tomlinson was left in a heap by Agbonlahor and later vomited after limping off the pitch, but Lambert made light of the incident, saying there was "nothing in it".
Paper Round's view: Lambert added: "You are taking someone out of their comfort zone. He’s a singer and you’re putting him into a football environment." Which is interesting since Tomlinson has just signed a non-contract deal with Doncaster Rovers. The world (at least the female U14 part of it) waits with baited breath to see how he fits in there.
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Benzema takes limelight away from Bale with silly haircut: Benzema managed to take some of the spotlight off £86million Bale by unveiling a "bonkers" haircut, reports the Daily Mail. The France international was on stage alongside Bale and Brazilian Marcelo to launch Real Madrid's new orange kit, but stole the show with his new "half buzz cut half frizz" style.
Paper Round's view: It has to be quite something to deflect attention from the new most expensive player in the world and this indeed is. And here we were thinking Bale's Bobby Charlton-inspired combover was silly enough.

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