Adebayor: Arsenal are just Ozil and Sanchez

Emmanuel Adebayor has claimed there is a lack of depth at Arsenal, accusing the Gunners of relying too much on Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

Arsenal are fourth in the Premier League, trailing leaders Chelsea by eight points, with their title hopes already looking slim again in 2016-17.

Sanchez has 14 goals and seven assists to his name in the league this season, with Ozil having found the net five times and set up three for team-mates.

Adebayor scored 62 goals in 142 games for Arsenal from 2006 to 2009 and, speaking to the Guardian, said of the current vintage: "Arsenal have a good team but if Sanchez gets injured I don't know who they've got.

"If you look at Chelsea, when Hazard gets injured they've got Willian; if Willian gets injured they can still play [Victor] Moses further forward. 

"Arsenal's problem is that today they are just Ozil and Sanchez. If one of them gets injured, it is a problem."

Adebayor later played for Arsenal's north London rivals Tottenham, netting 42 goals in 113 appearances, but was frozen out of the first-team squad by both Andre Villas-Boas and Mauricio Pochettino during his time at White Hart Lane, eventually leaving in 2015 before a brief spell at Crystal Palace in January last year.

He said of second-placed Spurs: "I'm happy for Pochettino and how they are doing. Things didn't work out between us but he is a great manager and we still have a good relationship despite what people might think. 

"We still keep in touch – he is a good guy and has changed Tottenham. I don't know whether the fans there hate me or love me but they should remember one thing, which is that there was a time when I scored goals for them and made them happy."

Adebayor, whose infamous celebration in front of the Gunners supporters after a goal for Manchester City damaged his reputation among Arsenal fans, is now a free agent but playing for Togo in the Africa Cup of Nations.

The 32-year-old believes he can keep going for another half-decade and is keen to return to the Premier League.

He said: "I'm a lucky guy because I have good genes, and this is not the first time I've come back after a long time out and played as if nothing had happened. Those who know me will not be surprised, even some of my old Tottenham team-mates.

"I had hardly played for months under Andre Villas-Boas and then, when Tim Sherwood took over on the Monday, I started against West Ham on the Wednesday [in a December 2013 League Cup quarter-final], was man of the match and scored. It's kind of normal and convinces me that I've got five or six years left in me, easily.

"You know me well enough – I love England, love the Premier League and want to find a way to get back there. I want to hit the top level again, that's for sure.

"I have a bad reputation in England and I don't know why. Maybe it's something that has just followed me. But one thing I always say is that 90 per cent of the people I've played with would say I'm an amazing guy, a great team-mate. But the press will say what they want, and in my career I've been unfortunate enough to have a lot of negativity."