What is it that attracts famous footballers to strange foreign lands? This week Robert Pires became the latest player to take part in this ever growing trend, setting off for India’s IPL. The 40 year old former French international retired three years ago but has been tempted out of his rest by the idea of playing outside of Europe for the first time in his already illustrious career. But why?
One thing is certain, Robert Pires has nothing left to prove. A star of Arsenal’s undefeated title winning side of 2003/04, Pires has played in the Champions League final and is a World Cup winner with France. Without wanting to sound cynical, it’s hard to imagine Pires has come out of retirement as he is desperate to add an IPL medal to that list of honours. So what is it that makes a player want to venture so far afield in the twilight of their career?
First of all, let’s eliminate the obvious. You hear of players being delighted to play in Serie A, players being attracted by La Liga and players being fans of the Premier League. Maybe they’d always wanted to play in England. No one aspires to play in the USA, or Australia, or India or many other countries in the same way. These leagues just don’t have the lure of a Premier League or a La Liga.
Maybe the game is still growing in these countries, maybe one day their leagues will stand in good stead alongside our own. But for now that is not the case. If it were, players wouldn’t be going to these places so late in their careers, they would be determined to spend their best years there. But they’re not.
Sometimes, it seems a viable option for players with a career to rebuild. Maybe a once proud Premier League player could be tempted abroad as the top league in Australia is more appealing than being forced to drop down the divisions.
Michael Bridges looked a star early in his career at Leeds United but injuries curtailed his rise. He began his move down the various tiers of English football before heading down under to play for Newcastle Jets in Australia’s A-League where he still works to this day since retiring. With an injury record like that a reputation can be left in tatters and a move abroad could be the best option.
Francis Jeffers made a similar journey. Come the end of his career he was far from the promising striker who Arsène Wenger signed for Arsenal from Everton and who scored on his England debut, taking in stints in Australia and Malta. But instead of it being reputation that leads you to find employment overseas, it could simply be age. Perhaps with your powers on the wane, and faced with retirement as you can’t perform at your usual level anymore, a minor league abroad is a great way of prolonging a career.
Take Alessandro Del Piero, a bona fide Juventus legend who was a huge player for the Italian giant for 19 years. In 2012, at the age of 37, Del Piero’s time at the very top of the game was over. But he managed to prolong his career by moving on to Australia to play for Sydney FC. Now, with Australian football in danger of leaving him behind at the age of 39, his career has been extended further by signing for Delhi Dynamos in the same IPL where Robert Pires will ply his trade at the age of 40. Careers prolonged.
Or maybe, at the risk of sounding even cynicaller (not a word!), it’s just about the money. Leagues like the MLS in the USA have rules in place for big name players like David Beckham, Jermain Defoe or Thierry Henry to keep up their usual lavish lifestyles outside of the rest of team’s salary caps. There was big money involved in Beckham signing for LA, money that Frank Lampard and David Villa will see having signed for the impending new New York franchise (club, to me and you).
Lastly, maybe it can all come down to being a big fish in a small pond. And what’s wrong with that? Who doesn’t want to feel important? I’m sure Emile Heskey welcomed being the game’s biggest star in Australia. It certainly beats the reception and ridicule he often got in England. TV ads, billboards, you name it, all over Australia you could read about ‘International Football Star and England Legend’ Emile Heskey coming to the A-League. The ‘epic’ clash between Heskey and Del Piero is still the most watched domestic football match in Australia’s history.
And what’s more, there’s a sense of adventure around these moves. The excitement of exploring the unknown. I bet that at the beginning of his career Marlon Harewood never thought that he’d play football in China before ending up back in Hartlepool!
But ultimately, why would you have to pick just one reason, all of these are valid and probably all play a part in the decision to move abroad. Why wouldn’t Thierry Henry go and play in New York? He gets to earn big money playing football in one of the best cities in the world. He is still a huge star and one of the best players in the league he plays in. Had he have stayed at Arsenal or Barcelona then it’s likely that none of the above would still be true.