French top flight side Olympique Lyon have confirmed that talks with Emmanuel Adebayor broke down partly because he wanted to play in the 2017 African Cup of Nations.

Injury to the team's star striker, Alexandre Lacazette, forced Lyon to begin looking for reinforcements and the Togolese forward was identified as a potential signing.

After a meeting was scheduled, Lyon coach Bruno Genesio said: "Indeed he could. He has come to Lyon and I'll meet him, then we'll see what happens. I have many questions to ask him, especially concerning his time at Crystal Palace. I want to know about his current level, his physical level, his level of motivation to join us, his career."

But even before the planned meeting, Adebayor annoyed his potential employers by being late for their meeting. It is not clear why he did not make the time.

Lyon President, Jean-Michel Aulas, had expressed hopes of signing the lanky forward, saying: "I love Adebayor. Is it possible? If he really wants to, anything is possible"

Eventually, when they did meet, the move hit a snag, according to the club CEO Olivier Blanc. "Our recruit could have been him, but in the end, it won't be him."

In the end, a brief statement from the Ligue 1 side on Saturday said that the 32-year-old had "delayed his arrival in Lyon since the beginning of the week before coming to Parc OL on Friday to have talks with coach Bruno Genesio".

It added that free agent Adebayor "also wanted to play the Africa Cup of Nations with Togo at the beginning of 2017, which would have led to an absence of one to two months".

Lyon signed striker Jean-Philippe Mateta on Thursday from French lower league side Chateauroux, and while the 19-year-old is not eligible for the Champions League, he can play domestic competitions -- which would have also been the case for Adebayor.

Adebayor was released by Crystal Palace at the end of season after failing to impress manager Alan Pardew.

PATTERN?

Adebayor, who usually lives in Ghana, becomes the second high profile player whose move to Europe has stalled due to the desire to feature at Africa's top football competition.

Ghana star Asamoah Gyan was unable to tie up a deal with English side Reading also, in part, because he would have been unavailable for selection in the crucial January - February period. 

Many European clubs are, for this reason, known to shy away from signing African players who are likely to make the trips to join their national teams during the tournament.

---