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MONEY TALKS: Cristiano Ronaldo (above), Gareth Barry (next picture) and Andrei Ashavin (last picture) seem to be tempted by bigger contracts, never mind that they are already obligated to their current employers.
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REAL Madrid's pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo, Liverpool's courtship of Gareth Barry, and Chelsea's likely attempt to muscle in on Barcelona's bid for Andrei Arshavin are just three of this summer's reminders that, in football, a man's word is less than his bond.
All three are contracted to their present clubs. All three will go if the price is right. All three selling clubs are crying wolf if they bleat about the breaking of loyalties.
This is 2008. Football has long been the new Hollywood in terms of the biggest production companies - or clubs - buying out star contracts.
The film producer Samuel Goldwyn famously said 'a verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on'. He also said 'I paid too much for it, but it's worth it.''
The argument is, it's a short career, every man must bank what he can while he can.
We are told that Ronaldo 'always' wanted to play for Madrid, and his mum wants him closer to home. Very sweet, but did he or his agent consider those desires when, on April 13, 2007, he signed a five-year extension to his Manchester United dream contract?
It is amazing what an offer of £182,000 (S$492,055) per week, as opposed to the measly £120,000 United pay him, will do to a player's dream.
'Contracts are becoming meaningless in football,' bemoans Carlos Queiroz, the United assistant manager. 'It is now often a case of dog eat dog.'
Quieroz the persuader is the Portuguese assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson. His asset is to keep Ronaldo, and in time Nani and Anderson, the younger talents plucked from Portugal. Those players were on contract, but United paid what it took to break them.
Similarly, Owen Hargreaves joined United last year from Bayern Munich, who held his contract. And top dogs United lured Ruud van Nistelrooy, Louis Saha, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, etc, from their contracted clubs.
Contracts are two-way passports of convenience. Sign a player for as long as you think you can use him, and you hold bartering rights if another club covet him.
It has been going on since transfer trading began 60 years or more ago.
The only truly loyal people around clubs are the fans.
They cannot trade their allegiance, and Aston Villa supporters feel disillusioned that Barry, their club captain who was offered a testimonial after 10 years at the club, went to the length of telling a newspaper he had to get away because of his ambitions.
His ambitions lie at Liverpool who, skirting the agreement that Premier League clubs must not entice players contracted to fellow EPL clubs, kept pegging away at Barry's obligation to Villa.
It seems irrelevant that eight years ago the FA made West Ham United pay £1.4 million compensation for stealing a Charlton apprentice, Jermain Defoe.
Or that Chelsea, fined £300,000 for enticing Ashley 'Cashley' Cole from Arsenal, were also fined peanuts for signing two Leeds United academy boys, Michael Woods and Tom Taiwo.
Ever since Peter Kenyon broke his contract as United chief executive to join the Abramovich revolution, Chelski have been, as he said it would, in a league of their own. The league of ruthless disregard for contracts.
But head-hunting is common business worldwide, and it isn't just footballers and their busy agents who sign contracts that they intend to keep only if they do not subsequently get a better offer.
The clubs use contracts to place a ransom on players in case they want to or are forced to offload them.
I have written before that if Ronaldo's mind is made up, United should extract the maximum Madrid will pay and recycle the money - probably to sign players in contract, such as Dimitar Berbatov.
Do you suppose Berbatov doesn't already know if Sir Alex wants him? Do you imagine that Spurs can hold him, or would be wise to try if he has lost the inspiration to play for them as he did last season?
There is a terrible phrase in soccer- 'playing to get away'. Sadly, all a star performer needs do is turn up and go through the motions to take his millions, while convincing his boss that it would be better to get rid of him while the stakes are high.
A twist in the United tale is that Quieroz, the very man trying to tell Ronaldo to stay loyal, is wanted as Portugal's coach now that Luiz Felipe Scolari has gone to Chelsea.
United are trying to keep Quieroz by offering a £500,000-a-year raise on his salary, but maybe it is not simply a question of money.
Maybe he should consult Ronaldo and ask how you settle affairs of the heart versus the wallet.
stsports@sph.com.sg
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