Does loyalty still exist? – Transfer requests, strikes and suspensions
Are players turning their back on that club who made them? That club that took a gamble? That club who has given them everything?
As a player you have ambitions. Ambitions to one day play for the club of your dreams, with players you have grown up watching on a Saturday at 3 pm.
But you can’t always just start at the top. It’s not always that simple. Sometimes as a player, you have to step out of your comfort zone. Play in a country where you don’t speak the native language. But all just ensure you develop your game. To one day play for that one team on the biggest stage of them all.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis pattern has always been and will continue to be the way for many to forge their best possible career. But with the modern day game, with all this TV money floating about, is there a severe lack of loyalty to the clubs that made the players who they are? The clubs that were willing to take a gamble? The clubs that saw the potential that perhaps others didn’t?
Liverpool fans knew that it was Luis Suarez’s ambition from a young boy in Uruguay to play for Catalonian giants Barcelona. Once Gareth Bale had shown his potential, it was clear to Tottenham fans that he was going to move on to bigger and better things. These types of transfers seem to happen with goodwill. With respect that this next move will define the success of a footballers career.
However, it seems times are changing. Yes, we are moving into an era where one single man can be worth €222 million for some fancy flicks and putting a ball in-between two posts. But it seems we are moving into an era of bitter transfers. Players seem to have more power than ever before. This summer, whether it’s from big clubs to small, from Neymar to Sigurdsson, from Southampton to Barcelona, players are starting to explore the potential of forcing their way out. Turning their back on the club who gave them a platform to play. That club that took a gamble. That club that has given you everything.
This summer, whether it’s from big clubs to small, from Neymar to Sigurdsson, from Southampton to Barcelona, players are starting to explore the potential of forcing their way out. Turning their back on the club who gave them a platform to play. That club that took a gamble. That club that has given you everything.
And yes, we all understand that one day your star player is going to move on. But there is a correct way to go about that. Isn’t there?! This summer’s transfer window for some reason has caused fans to turn their back on players, their hero’s that have forcefully turned their back on the fans. Whether you think it’s right or not, where has loyalty gone? Does loyalty still exist in our wonderful game? Who Knows?
But is it the players who are causing these ill feeling transfers. Are agents and the media causing young players to become villains from their own doing?
Embed from Getty ImagesCoutinho, Van Dijk, Neymar, Dembele, to name a few have been at the heart of this recent activity perceived as ‘wrong doing’. Coutinho handed in a transfer request the day before the season was due to start, Van Dijk has gone on strike for not being granted his wishes, Neymar forced his way out of Barcelona and Dembele has been suspended by his club after a bid from Barcelona was received three days prior.
All young players, all looking for bigger and better things, which as fans we understand. Sometimes as much as it hurts, you can’t get in the way of a player’s dream. But it’s sad to think these players are forming reputations for themselves. Are losing the respect of fans from that club. That club who took a risk. That club who made them.
Check out my personal site: williamlindseysblog.wordpress.com
Featured Image Source: Kev Ruscoe
Image Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kev_inr/9446613730/
Attribution: By Kev Ruscoe from Sandbach, UK (2013-08-05 10-54-00 Uploaded by Dudek1337) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Image found via WikimediaCommons and may be removed upon request
I don’t think we should expect players to be loyal. After all, if they show ambition, and the club they’re currently at aren’t moving in the same direction, why should they stay?
You can show loyalty in the way you go about a transfer. If a club understands your ambitions a transfer should be worked out in good faith. Players forcing their way out seriously shows no respect to the club and fan base in my opinion. But then I do understand that sometimes it is the last resort.