There was a time when football in England was termed the ‘working man’s ballet.’
For the hard-working masses, it was an affordable pastime that enabled them to watch their heroes every other week at the very least.
Heroes who were often from the local area and whom the supporters could readily identify with.
Of course, football, as in life, has to evolve, though one may scarcely have believed to what extent the game has changed from those halcyon days.
The advent of the Premier League in 1992 was clearly a watershed moment in English football history, for it not only saw the first real influx of foreign players, but it opened up avenues of corporate sponsorship and the like that couldn’t have been conceived beforehand.
Money came flooding into the game, stadiums were rebuilt en masse, and the working man’s ballet soon became anything but.
Fast forward to the present day, and with multi-club ownership as well as state ownership now a thing, the game has moved on again. Some might say for the betterment of the game, others for the detriment of it.
Still a relatively minor league in comparison to its European counterparts, the owners’ limitless funds have, nevertheless, seen to it that some of the world’s best footballing talents have plied their trade there.
Cristiano Ronaldo remains the standard-bearer, and his move to Al Nassr was arguably the key moment in persuading others to follow suit.
Summerville swayed by €13m yearly salary
The latest is Crysencio Summerville, who, at 24 years of age, is one of the youngest European stars to move there, and who has clearly been tempted by a reported €13m per year salary offered by Al Hilal.
To give some context, his contract at West Ham was for a reported £2.3m per year, so it’s perfectly understandable why the Dutchman would want to grab that financial opportunity with both hands.
What it does do, however, is evidence that players appear to now be going where the money is, rather than looking to further their careers by holding out for the best teams to come in for their services, even if it’s to their personal financial detriment.
It’s certainly worth asking whether Summerville can really be considered by the Netherlands national team again when he’s playing up against many players who are either journeymen locals or legendary European players who are coming to the end of their careers and are looking for one last payday.
Nunez’s experience should serve as a warning
One of the last players to move there, when surely he had plenty to offer clubs elsewhere, was Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez.
After an admittedly disappointing season on Merseyside, it was always likely that the club were going to cash in, but rather than listen to offers from Europe or South America, Nunez and his representatives, in their wisdom, agreed to a deal to take him to Saudi giants Al Hilal.
