photo credit: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³
When you’re the best player on the best team in France’s Ligue 1 you MUST deflect rumors of your imminent departure at all costs. When your club is up 9 points on the table with no end to your domination in sight you REALLY have to deflect rumors that you’re going to bolt any minute.
Just look at the other options out there. Spain, Italy, and England are calling with lots of cash and noteriety. Let’s face it: Everyone wants to play in England, Italy, or Spain. All the biggest names in Soccer are there or are loaned there on an annual basis. (Just look at the MLS’s L.A. Galaxy loaning Landon Donovan and David Beckham to English and Italian teams.)
The most troubling part of these rumors is the idea that Chamakh would leave in the middle of the season and that he has, in the past, voiced his desire to play in England. Now, from a purely selfish point of view I would tell this dude to run as fast as he can to higher paychecks and larger celebrity that England provides. However, leaving in the middle of the season? Isn’t that just a little bit dastardly?
I know, I know, people do this all the time, but this typically does not happen to a team that is SO far out in front of their league and really has a chance to bring more notoriety to French soccer in general. Imagine how big Ligue 1 could get if Bordeaux stayed intact and started a run that lasted most of the next decade? How fast do you think French Soccer would start to rival English, Spanish, and Italian Soccer? I know alot of you are thinking I’m just sawing fool and talking about something that will never happen, but it would only take one “super-club” to get it done. That “super-club” would bring in millions of dollars in revenue and other great athletes who would want to challenge that “super-club” and you would have a real renaissance in the sport.
Now, I’m saying this WILL happen, but you have to consider the possibilities and so does Chamakh. If he jets for England to be just “so-so” he may miss out on an opportunity to lead French Soccer to a new era of respectability and prosperity.
