31 Jul 2019 09:10:51
I wanted to share a conversation I had recently with a very well known Italian ex professional who had multiple high profile moves in his career.

There's always a lot of talk around football about greedy players having their heads turned by more lucrative contracts elsewhere so I asked a friend of mine about his moves.

Granted this won't apply to every player and the moves he referred to were in the 90s in a slightly different player culture.

Me: were any of your transfers because of money?

Him: just one. But not for me. The club needed the money and they knew I was worth a lot. I did not want to leave but I agreed to leave to help the club financially.

Me: what about the bigger wages that came with moving to juve, Milan etc?

Him: I never cared for this. My agent did. I wanted to play football in a team that competed which valued me. In truth I would have stayed in XXXXXXXX for my whole career. I loved it there. Even without the promise of winning the European Cup or a scudetto.

Me: did the other teams pay you a lot more than XXXXXXXX?

Him: Many times I think. I was never worried about this. My agent said its better than the last contract, I trusted him to make financial decisions. I made the football decisions.

Me: You ever regret anything?

Him: No. Even the times when the coach did not like me and i did not play. All these experiences, bad and good, made me the player I was.



It's not always players who get their head turned by money. I'm sure some do but most don't. I'm pretty sure fowler said something similar in his book. So when we hear of player x wanting x money or being lured by the promise of riches elsewhere let's not be too harsh there's a good chance they are not the greedy party.


1.) 31 Jul 2019
31 Jul 2019 10:07:57
Thanks for sharing! Times has changed sadly.


2.) 31 Jul 2019
31 Jul 2019 12:16:44
Thanks for sharing Nevada. Very interesting to hear this from a players point of view.