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Adebayor determined to fight for his place at City

Emmanuel Adebayor has held talks with Roberto Mancini about his future at Manchester City © Getty Images

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Emmanuel Adebayor is determined to fight for a starting berth at Manchester City, but the Togo striker admits he may be forced to leave the club in January.

The 26-year-old had to settle for a place on the bench for City's Premier League opener at Tottenham last weekend as boss Roberto Mancini chose to flood the midfield, leaving Carlos Tevez to lead the line on his own.

After the 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane, Adebayor met with the manager to discuss his position at the club. And, although the talks were positive, the former Arsenal forward is not ruling out a possible move away from Eastlands.

"I had a chat with the manager after the Spurs game which was good. But managers can change," he told The People. "Today they love you and then you think you are going to be moving. I don't want to look too far into the future. Who knows? By January maybe the manager will tell me to leave - or maybe I will ask to leave.

"What is important for me is to have clear focus on playing for City and fighting for my place in the team and that is what I intend to do. As a footballer you have lots of difficult times. Being sat on the bench for the first game of the season at Tottenham was tough for me and I admit I was a little bit upset."

Following his near-death experience en route to the African Nations cup - when the Togo team bus he was travelling on was ambushed by gunman - Adebayor has re-evaluated his priorities.

"I have the chance to be alive when I could have been dead after what happened at the Cup of Nations," he said. "That experience can maybe make me a bit awkward as I know what I want now. My priority from now on is always going to be my family.

"But, you have to fight for your place. I am very happy to be part of this club and I love the challenge of making it at City. Now I'm waiting for my chance. I'm playing for one of the big teams in England and all I need now is to be playing games and scoring goals."

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