New Crystal Palace signing Emmanuel Adebayor admitted there’s a bad reputation around him, but says that his teammates can learn from him.

The former Arsenal, Tottenham and Real Madrid striker made his debut from the substitutes bench on Tuesday night as Palace slumped to a fifth consecutive league defeat against Bournemouth.

But Adebayor believes his impressive record in England’s top flight can help influence Palace’s poor run of form.

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“They know what I have done in the Premier League,” he said.

“I’ve had a chance to play in La Liga, Ligue 1 in France so I think they all know me already so I’m here to learn, they’re here to learn from me as well.

“I have to be a leader, which means come on time to training, do my job professionally and that’s what I love doing anyway.

“There is a bad reputation about Adebayor but if you ask every single manager that I work under maybe there are one or two that will say ‘a bad apple in the dressing room’.

“As far as I know, I’m always smiling with my teammates, I’m always good with everyone.”

Despite being well aware of his responsibility as one of the more senior members of the team, Adebayor admitted he can still learn from one young player at the club.

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The Togo international heaped praise on Wilfried Zaha for his performance against the Cherries, suggesting he makes the accomplished striker want to turn back the clock.

“He’s a fantastic player,” he added. “He’s an important player for the club, he started his career here.

“For me I just came to learn and maybe some young players will learn from me as well.

“I’m so happy to play with a young, talented player like him because obviously when you reach 31, 32 you look at this player and think I wish I was 22, 23.

“All I can say is I wish him the best of luck in his career and hopefully he will be the main man for our season.”

The 31-year-old is also looking forward to linking up with injured attacker Yannick Bolasie, insisting that despite several key injuries the squad are upbeat.

“He’s a great player, we all know him from TV,” Adebayor said.

“I know him as a friend because he plays for Congo and I can’t wait to play with all of them, [Bakary] Sako as well.

“It’s a good squad with a lot of good players and I can guarantee the atmosphere in the dressing room is one of the best because the lads come in with love, big smiles in the morning.”

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