Former Norway international Brede Hangeland has branded free agent Emmanuel Adebayor an "incredible natural talent, but very lazy".
Adebayor has been without a club since leaving Crystal Palace at the end of the 2015-16 campaign, but he captained Togo at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations this month.
Earlier this week, the 32-year-old insisted that he still has the ability to play in the Premier League, but recently-retired Hangeland, who played alongside the striker at Palace, has doubted Adebayor's commitment.
"I only played with him for six months but here's a quick story. I was playing for Fulham and he played for Spurs," Hangeland recalled to Heia fotball.
"We were attacking and I was marking Adebayor in the midfield. He suddenly he said, 'Ahhh, I'm hungry.' I replied, 'What?' I can't wait for the game to finish, I'm so hungry,' he said. 'Do you know a good restaurant in London, Hangeland?'
"Later when he came to Palace I started to realise where this came from. When we had strength workouts he would sit in the gym with just a cup of coffee and a muffin. He was being paid by [Manchester] City, Tottenham and Palace at the same time, and he was sitting in the gym drinking coffee. Incredible natural talent, but very lazy."
Adebayor, who has represented the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur during a glittering career, managed just one goal in 15 appearances for Palace last season.
Matt Law
