Arsène Wenger has opened the door to Emmanuel Adebayor leaving Arsenal this summer by stating he would have no problem in selling a player to Chelsea or any other big four rival. Adebayor, who has endured a turbulent season after he came, in Wenger's words, "close to leaving the club" last summer, has emerged as a possible target for Chelsea. Roman ­Abramovich, Chelsea's owner, admires the Togo striker and so does Carlo Ancelotti, the Milan manager, whom Chelsea hope to install as Guus Hiddink's successor.

Ancelotti thought he had a deal to take Adebayor to San Siro last summer only for Silvio Berlusconi, the Milan owner, to step in at the last moment and insist that the club sign Ronaldinho from Barcelona. Wenger said that Adebayor remained a part of his plans but, while he has argued passionately that players such as Cesc Fábregas and Robin van Persie are going nowhere, his stance over Adebayor sounded less convincing.

"I don't want to go especially into any individual assessment of who we want to keep and who not, at the moment, and normally Adebayor is part of our plans for the future," he said. "If I feel that a player should go, or could go, why not sell him to one of the other top four?"

It was put to Wenger that the top clubs rarely sold to their domestic rivals. "Yes, of course, it's unusual," he said. "But we sold [Ashley] Cole to Chelsea and we bought [William] Gallas [from Stamford Bridge] so you can never say I never do it because I've already done it."

Adebayor sent out mixed messages at the end of last season when, after scoring 30 goals in all competitions, he became one of the hottest properties onthe market. He said he would be "delighted" to play for Barcelona who, together with Milan, led the chase for his signature but he also stressed that he was "very happy" at Arsenal and would return to them for pre-season training. When he did and duly turned out for the Premier League club, he felt the wrath of supporters.

"I believe he was disturbed at the start by a little bit of bad feelings from the fans because he was close to leaving the club and it unsettled him a little bit," said Wenger as he assessed Adebayor's contribution this season, in which he has scored16 goals. "And after, he had a big [hamstring] injury [that kept him out for two months from early February]. He looks now in training very, very sharp and back to his best."

Wenger was asked whether he wished he had sold Adebayor last summer, when his value was at its peak. He had opted to keep Thierry Henry for one more season in the summer of 2006 and the France international went on to have an indifferent campaign before he completed his long-mooted move to Barcelona.

"In this path, you are always in avery delicate position for two reasons," Wenger replied. "First, I cannot tell you all the truth, what happened behind the scenes and secondly, when youwant to keep the players, you keep the players. You do not really look athow much money you get. On the other hand, people say you do not want tospend and when you have the goodplayer, you sell him. We are in a position where we have ... when I look in training today, the quality of our offensive sector is very strong."

Adebayor can point to three separate injury lay-offs as mitigation for his inconsistent season, together with his being asked on occasion to play as a lone striker. Mindful perhaps of his PR errors last summer, he came out strongly to stress his commitment after the Champions League semi-final exit against Manchester United last week. But many supporters remain unconvinced. Having jeered him at intervals during the season, some booed his introduction as a second-half substitute in the Premier League defeat against ­Chelsea last Sunday.

Adebayor is aware that Ancelotti covets him, just as he would acknowledge the difficulties of a move across London to Chelsea. A parting of the ways with Arsenal, however, seems increasingly likely, although Wenger, who is tracking the Blackburn Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz, sounded a note of caution.

"No matter how much money you have ... you will see Manchester City now, for example, will be in the market ... the number of players available who make a difference is not as big as people imagine," he said.