The Tottenham striker had been in talks over a loan move with Villa - and been given a tour of their training ground - but the deal has stalled.
Sherwood worked with Adebayor at White Hart Lane and had targeted him to beef up his forward line, despite the arrivals of Jordan Ayew and Rudy Gestede following Christian Benteke's exit.
And the boss insisted the deal is not dead for the Togo international.
"If it can be revived and we think it's necessary two parties have got to agree on it
At the moment there's no agreement and he's a Tottenham player," said Sherwood, ahead of Saturday's Barclays Premier League trip to Bournemouth.
"I am really happy with the four we have here at the moment but if there is something that becomes available and it's better than what we've got then you look to improve
It would have to be some good quality of striker to be better than what we have.
"It's unfair for me to talk about him, he's a Tottenham player and I can't speculate on where he might go
He's still their player and that's it.
"He was here and we spoke but he's a Tottenham player
We had discussion and he's still a Tottenham player so something went wrong."
Sherwood also confirmed he will assess a number of his new signings ahead of the trip to Bournemouth before selecting his side to make sure they are ready for the Barclays Premier League
Defender Jores Okore is out with a knee injury
Source : PA
Source: PA