Adebayor played for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and Jose Mourinho with Real Madrid, but says it was Sherwood who brought the best out of him.
Quoted by the Daily Star, now retired Adebayor recalled when Sherwood arrived at Tottenham to replace Andre Villas-Boas in 2012.
"The first meeting (Sherwood) had with the first team,” Adebayor said, "He said, 'My talisman will be Emmanuel Adebayor, everything will go through Adebayor. Penalty taker – Adebayor'."
Adebayor scored in Sherwood's first game in charge and also said: "After the game, we had a one-hour phone call where he told me how brilliant I was, how he counted on me and that no matter what happened he was 100% behind me.
"When your boss is telling you that, the rest is easy. Up until today, we still chat. That's beautiful."
Adebayor turned 42 years of age on Thursday.