It’s been said ever since Roman Abramovich decided that being able to buy anything in the world wasn’t enough, he wanted to be able to buy people too. But while it initially seemed overdramatic, are we now far enough down the slippery slope to actually be worried?
Ok so they’re going about buying the best players in the world, and the second best players in the world to back them up.
But it could be said it’s merely the same old story as when Manchester United could pick and choose from the world’s best, only taken to an the umpteenth extreme.
However, things have gotten a little darker. After a long and pretty boring transfer saga, 19 year old John Obi Mikel is finally signing for Chelsea. We all know the basic story, but it has ended with Chelsea paying his club Lyn 4m pounds and paying United (who Mikel had initially agreed to sign with) an additional 12m just to shut up and stay out of the way. While this is all within the rules of football, we’ve gone from a rich club buying the world’s best players to a club paying everyone off in every situation just so they get their way.
While it’s not technically wrong, it just feels so. Even a number of Chelsea fans have admitted to being uncomfortable or at least a bit disillusioned with their conduct. Should FIFA step in? UEFA? The FA? Football is a sport and as such is able to govern itself outside of what constitutes ‘normal’ rules in the regular business world, if its deemed that something is happening against the best interest of the game. Although Abramovich could probably throw some money at that problem too.
But the question that is disturbingly becoming less and less of a joke is: Are Chelsea actually ruining football?