Adebayor: I want to be rated up there with Kaka and Henry

Thierry Henry's time over 40 metres: 4.85 seconds. His best time over the same short distance: 4.90.

Off the top of his head he then recites the squad's 100-metre time trial results. Henry had already left for Barcelona but again Adebayor figured prominently.

Second only, as it turns out, to Armand Traore who, from a standing start on grass and, in football boots, ran a nippy 11.25 seconds — and quicker than Theo Walcott. "I think I was 11.41 and Theo was 11.48," he says proudly.

For such a tall, some would say slightly gangly, man, his sprinting ability is impressive. "In the game I'm very good," he says. "I'm strong, I'm fast, I can jump high, my passing is good, my holding of the ball is per ... at the moment is very good."

Was he about to say perfect? "I nearly said perfect," he said, grinning. "But nothing is perfect, and I still need to work more on my finishing.

"I'm not saying I'm going to be the best player in the world, but I am going to be among them. When you talk to young players they all want to be Kaka, Ronaldinho, Henry. Their ambition is to be big and my ambition is to be big. You can never be sure of anything in football and I have to keep on working and, by the grace of God, stay healthy, but I want to be one of the best."

He does appear to have all the necessary attributes and the six Premier League goals he has scored already this season would suggest he is making progress as a finisher, too. Comparisons with Chelsea's Didier Drogba are being made and he is quite happy to hear them.

"A lot of people are saying that and it's a good thing, because Didier is one of the best," he says. "And he's also a cool guy."

Adebayor is a cool guy, even if he does seem to speak as fast as he runs. He shops in Savile Row, names Ozwald Boateng among his favourite designers and is often seen sporting a cravat and a flat cap.

Today it is a cap and a long scarf, but he likes the country-gent look when he leaves his Hampstead home for a wander around the shops.

Recently, he was invited to attend a photoshoot for Arsenal's official magazine and he arrived with two suitcases crammed full of clothes.

He has energy, enthusiasm, a real lust for life. He is passionate about his football and, for someone who is still only 23, he is remarkably forthright in expressing his opinions. Even when it can land him in trouble with the football authorities.

"You know when I am happy and you know when I am not happy," he says. "I say what is on my mind and I see myself as a leader. I am the captain of the national team in Togo and, since my father died, I have become the leader of my family. I have three brothers and two sisters and I am in the middle, but everyone started to fight when he died and someone had to take control. I am very like my father in my personality."

In Togo, he says he is "loved". Is he their answer to David Beckham? "People love me for what I do and they love me for who I am," he says.

Not everyone loved him back in March, however, when reports claimed he was threatening to pull out of an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone because of a row over bonus payments.

Adebayor received death threats, but then scored twice in the game, only to be suspended by the Togo federation along with two of his team-mates.

Clearly, football in Togo can be chaotic.

Earlier this month a defeat to Mali in Togo's capital, Lome, prompted supporters to invade the pitch and attack Mali's players.

Sevilla's Freddie Kanoute and Stoke City's Mamady Sidibe both suffered injuries and the Confederation of African Football responded by placing an indefinite ban on Togo's Kegue Stadium.

Adebayor blames a general lack of "respect" for footballers. "In Africa we have a problem because we have lots of football officials who don't know how to treat footballers," he says. "It's a great shame.

"When I read in the newspaper that we were demanding more money in match fees, I was very upset because that wasn't the case. I'm not interested in earning money when I play for my country. I am very well looked after by Arsenal.

"What I objected to was the fact that we travel all that way to play for the national team and the president of the federation cannot even find the time to make a 15-minute journey and come and see us. Every time we fly our plane could crash. Anything could happen. But he can't even get in his car. Respect is all I was asking for."

At Cardiff's Millennium Stadium last season, he said he was simply asking for an explanation. Why, he wanted to know during that controversial Carling Cup Final encounter with Chelsea, was he being sent off?

"People thought I was going to hit the referee," he says. "But it was a big final for me, my first in England, and I was upset. The assistant ref thought I had punched Frank Lampard, but I didn't punch anyone."

Discipline was instilled in Adebayor at a school that would be every boy's dream. "At 11, I was sent to a football school in Lome," he says. "It was called the Centre Developpement Sportif and we would have lessons in the morning and football every afternoon. And when the teachers didn't get paid and didn't turn up, it would be football all day. The football coach was always there."

By the time he was 15, he had earned a place in Togo's Under 17 side and was spotted by Metz at a tournament in Gothenburg. They invited him to move to France, and it was there that he met Francis De Ttadeo, the academy coach.

"It was winter and, after two weeks in northern France, I told him I wanted to go home," he recalls. "It was so cold and I said I was going to die. My bones couldn't take it.

"But he told me that one day, if I worked hard, I could play for a team like Arsenal with Thierry Henry. I was 15 and he predicted it would happen then! It was what I needed to hear and I stayed."

From Metz he moved to Monaco and played a significant role in their progression to the Champions League Final in 2004. But, when Didier Deschamps left and Francesco Guidolin took charge, he realised it was again time to move on.

"The first thing Guidolin said to me was, 'Who are you?'," says Adebayor. "And by then I was starting every first-team game. I thought, how can he not know who I am? In the end, he said it was better for me if I went."

Even then, though, the last person he expected to hear from was Wenger.

Newspapers in France linked him with Arsenal almost every summer but one goal in six months convinced him he was the last striker Wenger would consider.

However, the Arsenal manager had already asked for permission to speak to his future employee.

"It was the winter holiday and I was back in Togo having a kickabout with friends when my phone rang," he says. "One of the boys answered it and said, 'Manu, it's Arsene for you'. 'Arsene who?' I said. 'Arsene Wenger', he said. 'Get out of it', I said, and grabbed the phone off him. But then I heard the voice. 'Allo'. F*****g hell. It is Arsene Wenger!

"He asked me if I would come and play for Arsenal and I said I'd play for free. It was like moving from hell to paradise and, for the faith he showed in me then, I will for ever be trying to repay him."

Become the best in the world and Wenger should be happy enough.