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Arsenal Chairman, Peter Hill-Wood insists the Gunners will be hanging on to Emmanuel Adebayor, despite the speculation about a move to AC Milan or Barcelona. Confusion continues to reign regarding the possible transfer - or not - of Arsenal striker, Emmanuel Adebayor.

One contradictory statement currently follows another - and hot on the heels of reports earlier on Wednesday of AC Milan claiming to have received a letter from Arsenal saying the Gunners were now prepared to discuss a deal for the Togo striker, comes a statement from the Arsenal’s Chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, insisting they intend to hang on to Adebayor.

The Togo striker has demanded a somewhat excessive 400 per cent pay rise to keep him at the Emirates. If Arsenal were to acquiesce it would send Adebayor’s wages soaring to £120,000 per week.
Manager Arsene Wenger is refusing to give in to such a demand, and Adebayor, 24, and his agent are persistently hinting at a move to either Barcelona or Milan.
However, Hill-Wood has stated on Wednesday that the Arsenal board wanted the player to stay at the Emirates - contradicting the alleged letter to Milan.

Hill-Wood’s comments, reported in The Sun, appear unequivocal. He said:
"We want him to stay, definitely. Adebayor still has a long time left on his contract and we have absolutely no intention of releasing him from that contract.
"You want to keep your best players and Adebayor is one of those."
Adebayor signed a new contract with Arsenal last summer which is set to run until 2011.
However, by going public with his demands for a lucrative new deal, he has strained relations with his club and lost a lot of goodwill among Arsenal supporters.

Hill-Wood added: "It's annoying but it is modern football.
"The idea that you are going to have a number of your team playing for you for 15 years, as one used to have, has disappeared."
Meanwhile, Alexander Hleb admits he will find it hard if he leaves Arsenal during the summer, after refuting suggestions of rifts with manager Arsene Wenger and team-mate Cesc Fabregas.
The Belarus international has been consistently linked with a transfer and Barcelona are current favourites to sign the midfielder, despite rumoured interest from Inter Milan, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

And although he appears to favour a change of scene, the 27-year-old is eager to dismiss any suggestion of ill-feeling at the Emirates Stadium.
"I am very grateful to Arsene Wenger. He is the best coach of my career. And not just a coach. He is a very good man and intuitive psychologist. I very much appreciate his support," he told www.tut.by.
"I talked to him twice before the end of the season (about my future). It is also not that easy for me to leave this club, because it has become my home. I think he (Wenger) is upset, though it is better to ask him, maybe he is glad."

Hleb added: "In life, everything changes. I believe that there are 10 top clubs in world football, and when a couple of clubs are interested in you and offer better terms, I believe that others would have done exactly the same.
"But Arsenal is dear to me, I am grateful to Wenger for everything he has done for me.
"As an Arsenal player, I can say that there is no better club in the English Premiership."
Hleb, 27, also sought to clarify his relationship with Fabregas, insisting the pair get on well after reports that he had branded the Spain midfielder "selfish".
"Cesc and I understand each other very well on the field. And it is very, very pleasurable for me to play with him," he said.

"He's a very pleasant guy both in life and as a footballer. He is just more egoistic in goalscoring opportunities, if he had a chance to score, he always used it, unlike me."
Another Gunners star linked with a summer move, striker Emmanuel Adebayor, could be set to remain with the north London club.

The Togo star has been attracting interest from AC Milan but Arsenal's valuation of the player, thought to be in the region of £36million, appears to have scuppered any chances of a quick deal.
The Rossoneri have also looked at Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o but Milan vice-president insists nothing is imminent.

"I have had contact with Wenger and right now we are divided on an important difference in terms of value of the player," Galliani said. Of his two striking targets, he added: "They are both great forwards. But they could both remain where they are."