Every summer and January transfer markets every premiership club likes to sign at least one player to strengthen their squads. The players themselves assure clubs and supporters that they cannot be any where better. Assurance given when signing the dotted line, it is more like a 'marriage of convenience'. Two or three years into the contract, if they become hot properties in their current clubs something get into their heads, suddenly they realised that they are in the wrong club. FIFA needs to look into this, and make footballers' contract more enforceable.
Obviously not, otherwise players would move freely between clubs and fees would never be paid. Contracts ensure that there is a value
Football is pointless. You win something then the next season it doesn't matter, it's all about the next winner. It goes round and round, like life. We exist to procreate, only for our children to do the same. Life is pointless. I'm going to jump off a bridge.
Post Bosman, the length of a contract merely denotes the size of the fee. You can thank that Belgian prick for the massive shift in both power & cash from clubs to players
It would just have a different name if the 'Belgian prick' hadn't have done it. Its contravened employment law rules and was always going to change at some point. It is the next step that bothers me. In a normal working contract, there is a termination period, how long until this is enforced into football contracts?
If a player says he wishes to leave at the end of the contract, do we see him as someone who honours their contract respectfully or as someone who merely leaves on a free therefore leaving the club without receiving a fee? ...
The mere fact that transfer fees exist means that football sits outside of employment law, as the players are intangible assets with a value on the balance sheet. The Bosman ruling used a sledgehammer to crack a walnut, as it wasn't much of an issue anyway, as the player would simply move on & a tribunal would set the fee for his registration, if his contract had ended.
Well, sort of. When Owen left people criticised him for running his contract down meaning we got next to nothing for him (but in theory we did get something) but nobody battered an eyelid when McManaman uprooted for Madrid and he went on a bosman.
If that was ever challenged then fees could disappear & players would have total freedom of movement. There would be little continuity amongst squads & you could in theory lose your entire team across a summer period.
