PLAYER POWER W


hen your star player signs a new contract nowadays, do you really


care? Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo signed one at the back end of the 2006/07 season, swearing his allegiance to Old Trafford for another fi ve years on mega-bucks that we mere mortals can only dream of. A year after pledging loyalty on paper, there were serious fl irtations with Real Madrid on his part and a further twelve months down the line the Portuguese pretty


boy had jumped fully into the bed of his Spanish mistress, abandoning the team that made him, just two years after promising fi ve. A similar story can be seen


down south, where Arsenal’s leader-in-chief Cesc Fabregas currently sits slap-bang in the middle of a ludicrously long eight-year deal signed in 2006. Although Arsenal have assurances they won’t lose their most prized asset for free anytime soon, anyone witnessing his sub-standard


season form this season must conclude this Spaniard longs for the return to his footballing roots at Barcelona and will likely get it in the summer of 2011. In this day and age, it seems


contracts just aren’t worth the bother.


In most cases they are


offered to stop the dreaded ‘Bosman’ affl icting any club, preventing a good player from simply walking out for nothing at the end of his contract. Players hold the power I’m afraid and through contracts


FOOTBALL FRIENDS ISSUE 2


POW PLAY


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