Chelsea get their man, but is this the only price?

Michael Essien joined Chelsea the other day. I think that’s great and all but you know this whole thing of players refusing to play is just as unsportsmanlike as if he walked off the pitch and left the team with 10 men.

Was the 32m pound asking price too high? Yes, much too high. Did Chelsea pay too much at 27m pounds? Yes, way too much.

Lyon was stubborn and their extortion of Chelsea succeeded; but it’s still the player’s job to play for the club: he’s paid to do that, he has teammates, fans or is it just about the ‘me, me’?

In some ways this saga could have been avoided if more reasonable people were involved in the negotiations, but not playing is like tossing rocks thru windows: juvenile.

I wonder if we are seeing the Essien which impressed last season. Things happen to you when you become highly touted.

I wouldn’t purchase a player that refused to play for another club. Reason is simple; he’d do it to you too. Essien signed a contract stating he’d play for Lyon for ‘x’ years. He blew it off with his agent condoning it; another reason not to deal with him.

If we look back at Essien’s career, it resembles 90% of footballers: they were playing from some club and got a big break. They were not sons of famous athletes; they had to get noticed thru talent. That talent got him his first contract at a club and got him earning money.

Look to the moment in every player’s life when they get their first big break and ask yourself if they were thinking about refusing to play in that moment. In that moment the player knows how lucky he is to do this; what’s changed?

I’m not intending to say that there is no reason, ever, to refuse to play. If a club doesn’t pay you your wages then they have failed in a fundamental responsibility, that’s a reason not to play. If a club is doing something illegal, that’s a reason, etc. I’m not inventing some code of honor either, just pointing out self interest.