Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor regrets his stamp on former Arsenal team-mate Robin van Persie. The Togo star swapped Emirates Stadium for Eastlands this summer and his first reunion with his ex-colleagues was marred by controversy.

Adebayor received a three-game suspension for his attack on Van Persie, while the forward was handed a suspended ban for celebrating in front of Arsenal fans.

The former Gunners ace now admits that he was wrong to stamp on Van Persie and that he wishes he had not performed the act.

Adebayor was quoted as saying by the Evening Standard: "It's one of the things that you can't do in football. That's for sure.

"It's true that if someone did that to me it would annoy and hurt me. I regret it, for sure."

Meanwhile, Adebayor - who returned from his ban in Monday's draw at Aston Villa - claims he was told to leave Arsenal by manager Arsene Wenger.

He said: "I talked with the coach and he told me I was one of Arsenal's best-paid players, that the club was in the red, so maybe they wouldn't be able to pay me any more - it would be better for me to go.

"I asked him, 'Is it your choice or the club's?' He answered, 'It's everybody's choice, from the whole club'. I was pushed out!"

He added: "Everybody says Adebayor went for the money. I think a lot of people are wrong because Arsenal bought me for five or six million and they sold me three-and-a-half years later for £25million.

"So people should know that it's not me who wanted to leave for money, it's Arsenal that forced me to go."

Adebayor has also repeated his claim that insults from Arsenal fans provoked his goalscoring celebration in City's 4-2 win over the Gunners in September.

He said: "I think we are all human beings and there are things we can stand and others we can't. We all have limits. I'm lucky that my mother is still alive. I think I would never accept things being said and done regarding my mother.

"When I heard the fans singing and insulting my parents . . . I couldn't stand it. When I scored, I wanted to show them, 'You kicked me out of the club, now I've scored against you.' It was a response to what happened, but I did not in any way want to provoke them.

"My relationship with Arsenal has broken in two. I wanted to stay. It's true that I didn't score a lot of goals last season, but I was often injured."