Tango for Cash!
Hmmm...what would I do with if I get £100,000? I would quit my job, put all the money in the bank and lead a comfortable life! Now what if I get £50,00,000!!?? I would buy a new car every week, have beautiful girls swirling around me while I am wearing just a 'chaddi' shamelessly, very much like our famous business tycoon and Rajya Sabha M.P.! Well, that'll just remain a dream to me. But just to imagine footballers are paid such amount of money, I wonder if things might have been different had I not stuck to cricket when friends were playing football at school!
Coming to the point, footballers especially in Europe are being paid embarassing amounts of money. Some might argue that they have a very short career that might be curtailed even further in case of a serious injury. Even then, 5 Milion pounds a year ???!!!
And, some players do not seem to be satisfied with the already huge amount of salary as with the case of English and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand. This guy was suspended for 8 months due to failure to take a drug test and during that time the club remained loyal to him and even paid his salary. But after the season ended, when few other top clubs become interested in him, he wants a better deal, a higher salary (he is yet to accept a £100,000 a week offer!)
On the other hand, there are players like Jon Obi Mikel of Nigeria who had signed for Manchester United but later claimed he was forced to join that club while his heart was always beating for Premiership giants Chelsea! Now then, his heart-beat would have stopped if it wasn't for Roman Abromovich's multi-million pound takeover of Chelsea and his huge investment had not brought the Premiership title!
There is always someone like Louis Figo, a superstar until a few years ago but now relegated to the substitute's bench. He says he won't leave for another club unless the club can match the salary paid by his present club! C'mon! You are nowhere near your best, neither are you any younger, but you still want to be paid 100 million pounds a week??!!
And yesterday, Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain says he wants to leave the club. This after just 6 weeks after he won the European Cup and said he would not leave the club. As I write this piece, my friend points out to me that Gerrard has just made a u-turn by opting to stay at Liverpool! So much for loyalty to the home-club!
When I talk about loyalty and passion for the club, I should mention the ManUtd players and not just because they are my favourite! Good British players such as Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and many others have been in the squad for more than a decade and were never tempted to leave the club they are so passionate about! I am also reminded of an AC Milan player (I forgot his name) back in the late seventies who refused to move to fierce rivals Inter when AC was relegated to first division. He stayed with the club, brought it back to the main league, won the league title and the European Cup! He is a legend at AC Milan! So is Paolo Maldini, the former Italian captain and current AC Milan captain who has remained with the club for 20 years!!!! And some players are not even loyal to their club for 20 months!!!!
These days, there is no such passion for a club. It is difficult to find a one-club player. The players are always looking to jump when a better club at that moment offers them a higher salary. It's a pity that there are very few Keanes and Maldinis while there are lots of Mikels and Ferdinands!
Coming to the point, footballers especially in Europe are being paid embarassing amounts of money. Some might argue that they have a very short career that might be curtailed even further in case of a serious injury. Even then, 5 Milion pounds a year ???!!!
And, some players do not seem to be satisfied with the already huge amount of salary as with the case of English and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand. This guy was suspended for 8 months due to failure to take a drug test and during that time the club remained loyal to him and even paid his salary. But after the season ended, when few other top clubs become interested in him, he wants a better deal, a higher salary (he is yet to accept a £100,000 a week offer!)
On the other hand, there are players like Jon Obi Mikel of Nigeria who had signed for Manchester United but later claimed he was forced to join that club while his heart was always beating for Premiership giants Chelsea! Now then, his heart-beat would have stopped if it wasn't for Roman Abromovich's multi-million pound takeover of Chelsea and his huge investment had not brought the Premiership title!
There is always someone like Louis Figo, a superstar until a few years ago but now relegated to the substitute's bench. He says he won't leave for another club unless the club can match the salary paid by his present club! C'mon! You are nowhere near your best, neither are you any younger, but you still want to be paid 100 million pounds a week??!!
And yesterday, Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain says he wants to leave the club. This after just 6 weeks after he won the European Cup and said he would not leave the club. As I write this piece, my friend points out to me that Gerrard has just made a u-turn by opting to stay at Liverpool! So much for loyalty to the home-club!
When I talk about loyalty and passion for the club, I should mention the ManUtd players and not just because they are my favourite! Good British players such as Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and many others have been in the squad for more than a decade and were never tempted to leave the club they are so passionate about! I am also reminded of an AC Milan player (I forgot his name) back in the late seventies who refused to move to fierce rivals Inter when AC was relegated to first division. He stayed with the club, brought it back to the main league, won the league title and the European Cup! He is a legend at AC Milan! So is Paolo Maldini, the former Italian captain and current AC Milan captain who has remained with the club for 20 years!!!! And some players are not even loyal to their club for 20 months!!!!
These days, there is no such passion for a club. It is difficult to find a one-club player. The players are always looking to jump when a better club at that moment offers them a higher salary. It's a pity that there are very few Keanes and Maldinis while there are lots of Mikels and Ferdinands!
posted by Lucas @ 7:15 PM
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