Adebayor was one of the Premier League's most controversial characters

We probably won't see Emmanuel Adebayor running the length of the Turf Moor pitch to celebrate if he scores against Burnley. But eyes we be drawn to the Togo striker nonetheless.

Now 34, Adebayor returns to England with Istanbul Basaksehir and he remains a compelling figure on a football field.

Adebayor opened his account for the season by scoring in the win over Trabzonspor on Sunday, making it 21 Turkish league goals in 41 games since joining in January 2017.

And keeping him quiet on Thursday night will be a major factor in whether or not Sean Dyche's team progress to the Europa League play-off round.

You wouldn't bet against Adebayor turning up in the country where he was both loved and loathed and delivering a punchy postscript.

He arrives with more baggage than a Love Island contestant checking in for a two-month stay in the Mallorcan sunshine.

Hero and villain for Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham, Adebayor never played by convention either in his unorthodox style as a centre-forward or with his actions off the pitch. There was guile and goals, but also vitriol and voodoo.

It was with Arsenal that he generated the most fervent feeling. Joining from Monaco in January 2006 for £3million, his signature came at a time when Arsene Wenger still had a touch in the transfer market.

He scored after 21 minutes of his debut alongside Thierry Henry, got the winner at Old Trafford the next season, and found the net 30 times in the 2007-08 campaign – the last occasion Arsenal mounted a genuine Premier League title challenge.

He grew beyond his Baby Kanu nickname – given due to his likeness to Nwankwo Kanu, a boyhood idol – and into one of Europe's quality strikers. He could finish, he could finesse, and everything he did was with character.

But the 2008-09 season saw Arsenal fans grow irritated. Injuries struck and there were accusations of a lack of effort. His £25m move to Manchester City that July marked a major moment for the Eastlands club – the capture of an influential player from a direct rival – and also lit the fuse on one of the most toxic relationships in English football.

Subjected to terrace taunts, Adebayor unforgettably reacted to scoring for Mark Hughes's side against Arsenal in September 2009 by racing the entire pitch and sliding on his knees in front of supporters who had previously sung his name. The sea of red raged in response.

Adebayor explained his actions thusly. 'You can insult me no problem, but telling me my father washes elephants? I ain't taking that,' he said.

That grotesque chant about his heritage, which also includes his mother, would become a familiar refrain. Tottenham fans sung it when Adebayor scored twice against them for Real Madrid in the Champions League in April 2011.

By that stage Adebayor was on loan from City having fallen out of favour under Roberto Mancini. He wanted to stay at the Bernabeu with Jose Mourinho but would instead join Spurs and Harry Redknapp, scoring 17 Premier League goals in his first campaign.

More goals followed but the rate slowed and after just two at the halfway stage of the 2014-15 season he revealed a remarkable theory. 'My family should stop doing juju on me – they should leave me alone,' he said.

Further discord with his relatives punctuated his time at White Hart Lane, with Adebayor manifestly troubled at a their approach to his wealth. 'They say, 'If he dies this car is for you, this house is for you.' Can you imagine?'

Certainly the finances were attractive when Adebayor agreed to join Aston Villa under Tim Sherwood in summer 2015. Villa proposed wages in excess of £100,000 per week, and accepted demands for a personal chauffeur and the availability of a penthouse apartment in a plush Birmingham hotel.

Adebayor was given a tour of Bodymoor Heath and even posed for official Villa photographs. But he backed out of the deal because God did not provide divine inspiration.

An open talker and deep thinker, the gun terror attack on the Togo team bus in January 2010 had shaped him. That September, Spurs settled the remaining year of his contract. He had been seeking a £5m pay-off to end it early.

There was a loan spell at Crystal Palace in 2016 that yielded only one goal before Adebayor bade farewell to England by moving to Turkey. It will be intriguing to see how his brief return pans out.