Apparently we could have signed him on a free in January but he wanted £5k a week and we offered £3k. Make of that what you will.
Guessing we're probably waiting to see what division we're in before committing. Disappointing if true, but on the other hand getting into a financial pickle is the last thing we need. From Roberts' point of view, can't blame him for wanting to maximise his earnings while he can. Guessing he's unlikely to have made enough money from football to have set him up for life, so an extra £300k over the duration of the contract will make a significant difference to his pension pot.
Seems a weird time to have a clause in mid way through the season? I guess from Roberts’ side it would be a contract sorted out but I’d imagine he’ll have his suitors in the summer too to try and get the best wage/playing time scenario. A lot seems to be riding on us going up, whether that be signing players permanently or renewing contracts.
Blimey, a quarter of a million per year, for playing for a League One side?!? The money aspect of football is completely ridiculous. Liverpool are an extremely famous and successful football club. They have umpteen players on more than £100k per week, with some on more than £200k and Salah on £300k. Season tickets cost between £700 and £880. Over 65s have to pay between £520 and £660, young adults between £350 and £440 and kids £165. But whilst Liverpool are a successful and wealthy football club, Liverpool is not populated by wealthy people. Of course, in a big city there will be a lot of wealthy people, but your average football fan tends not to come from that demographic. I’m pretty sure all the Liverpool players could live quite comfortably on £50k per week, and then the season tickets could come down to a much more affordable price. And the subscription to Sky Sports could come down too. Greed. I wonder when it will stop?
I said 10 years ago that this couldn't last.Money thrown at players teams living beyond their means. I was well wrong on that one.
Hector Bellerin is spot on in the following article on the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68286028 "Football every day is more about margins, about can we make more money and less about the people that support it and the people that truly make football great," says Bellerin. "It is becoming every day something more elitist, in my opinion, and having it in three different countries makes it more difficult for fans to follow their nation. "We are losing a little bit of the essence of what football truly is and who are the people that actually make football, which is the people who follow us and watch us every weekend." Except I can't help thinking that we're beyond losing the essence, at PL level it's already lost and the greed impacts the rest of the pyramid.
Liverpool attracts a lot of overseas fans who pay over the odds - each one spends on average 800 pound visiting the club. Heard there's a certain % of tickets put away every game for them. My friend from Chicago has been to more games than my daughter this year
I agree the money in football is ridiculous, but I don't think this is a great example of it. £250,000 a year gets them about £130,000 a year after tax and assuming a 5-10% pension contribution. That's about £2 million over the course of a 15 year career. Similar total earnings to a pre-tax salary of about £60,000/year in a "normal" job over the course of a 45 year career. While above average, it's hardly what I'd call ridiculous.
It's hard to believe players in non league are getting paid that. And people keep saying paul cooks Chesterfield are the big spenders of the division with them almost promoted already.
Fair point. Although if you're earning £250k a year for 15 years, that gives you a lot more opportunity to invest whatever you're not using for everyday expenses to give you a very nice nest egg once you retire. Or of course you could just as easily spunk most of it up the wall on fancy cars and designer clothes, and suddenly end up at the age of 35 with loads of outgoings and a family to support but no income. I'm pretty sure this situation must occur quite often for lower league footballers.