Money Won't Give Success

Manchester City’s million dollar bid for Kaka has shocked many, including the revered Sir Alex Ferguson. There are many (and I must confess to belong to this group) who snigger at City’s attempts to attract the best talent in the world via the bucket loads of cash they now posses. It is indeed comical for a club which fights to avoid relegation every other season harbor illusions of being the best club in the world. The Sheikhs who bought City would have been no doubt inspired by the Abrahimovic story at Chelsea, but the Londoners had a number of world class players like Frank Lampard, John Terry before the oligarch took over; therefore, it was easier to convince players like Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and the rest. In comparison, the only world class player in the City team is Robinho, and even he came to the club after the Arabs took over. Stephen Ireland and Richard Dunne are not in the same as league as these champions, while Shaun Wright-Philips is a perennial under-achiever.


So must there always be a hierarchy of a handful of clubs, and must only these clubs fight for glory? No, but the methods employed by the likes of City and dare I say it, Chelsea before them, are obscene. All the big clubs in the world (Manchester United, Barcelona, AC Milan, Real Madrid, etc) have history. It took years for each of these clubs to be in the position they enjoy today. Many of these clubs became what they are after starting with limited money; the millions we see today was a by product of the success, the money was not a cause for success. For many of the best players in the world, ambition and ability to back it up with tangible results is the main criteria, money is only secondary.


Modern Day football is big money business. In today’s globalised world, matches in Europe are followed with equal amount of passion by fans in Asia. Ticket sales alone do not contribute to the club’s coffers; TV rights, merchandise sales contribute just as much, if not more. This has resulted in a situation where a handful of world class players are chased by hundreds of clubs. The biggest beneficiary of all this is the player himself, and he cannot be blamed for wanting to earn as much as he can in the 10-15 years that he plays the game. However, after a point, money becomes secondary; the player seeks to gain recognition as a player. Thus, he invariably plays for a club which has history, ambition and the talent to supplement the ambition. The reality of modern day football is that a club which fulfills the above requirements can also offer the player the six figure salary he seeks. If a player moves to a club solely for the money (like Robinho), the arrangement is bound to be a temporary one, with happiness and satisfaction eluding both the club and the player.


It is therefore a relief that Kaka has rejected a move to the Eastlands. If the deal had materialized, football would have been the casualty, for there would then be no morals and ethics involved. We must therefore be thankful that money has not corrupted a fantastic player, and this would discourage similar stories from happening in the future. Indeed, it would have been fantastic for the Premier League to have a talent like Kaka, but this would be no compensation for the grievous harm caused to the game. Teams like Manchester City can seek success, but they must realize that success would mean a lot of hard work spread over decades. Money will play a part, but it must not remain the primary means for achieving success. Maybe one day we will see City in the Champions League on a regular basis, but it would be a shame if this were achieved by basically bribing eleven of the best players in the world.