Remember back when players would never (or almost never) think of signing for an arch-rival?
Those days are long gone now as money talks more loudly than loyalty and players no longer rule out any potential destination. Former Liverpool legend Michael Owen to Manchester United? Sure. Carlos Tevez to Manchester City straight from United? Sure. Former Arsenal captain Patrick Viera to Tottenham? It's actually being discussed.
Sure, it's not really THAT new a trend (and Tevez wasn't exactly at United for THAT long, though his claims of not signing for Liverpool out of respect for United fans sure do ring hollow now). Anyone who recalls Luis Figo's reviled switch from Barcelona to Real Madrid, or Landon Donovan's move to the LA Galaxy (that's for you, San Jose fans) knows that there are very few real surprises anymore.
So here's a question for today. What would you consider to be among the more absurd player moves based on rivalries, regardless of time away from a former club? Steven Gerrard to Everton? Henrik Laarson to Rangers? Francesco Totti to Lazio? Okay, so these may be too absurd, and there might be all-out riots if any of them happened, but you get the idea.
Can you think of a recent player move that left you saying, "How could he do that?" Is there a player whose move to your club you just absolutely wouldn't accept because of a rivalry?
Share your thoughts below.
Kyle Beckerman to Real Salt Lake. I was really surprised by that move. The rivalry between RSL and Colorado is definitely an artificially manufactured one, but it has had some ups and downs in intensity. The Beckerman move came probably right at the peak of the bad blood between RSL and Colorado players and fans. There was a lot of taunting and accusations of poor sportsmanship, and Beckerman was involved with all of that. I still like him, but I really wish he would have stayed with Colorado.
“Who are Chelsea’s number one top rival???”
Fulham? haha!
huckerby to ipswich…
Who are Chelsea’s number one top rival???
FRANK LAMPARD straight to captain that team. That would be absurd.
I’m relatively new to club soccer and i’m gonna give it plenty of time to declare myself a fan of some random club miles away to which i have no connections, so i’ll have to relate in other terms.
As bball fan on Tobacco Road, i would never ever ever want a player from Duke or UNC to come to NC State. As a Nebraska Cornhusker with the big red in my blood, i would never want an OU player to transfer to Lincoln. As a USMNT supporter, i would never want to put in a former Mexico International (if that were truly possible)….i dont care how bad our striking corps is!
Et cetera.
Puyol to Real and Raul to Barca would be the most shocking on all levels, the international equivilant of the much rumored proposed Red Sox trade of Ted Williams to the Yanks for DiMaggio, which probably would have destroyed the Northeastern United States if it had ever happened. Gerrard to Man U or Chelsea would stun, as would Terry to Liverpool. Adriano has said that if he played for any team in Rio other than Flamengo he would probably get killed by his grandmother, so that would be pretty stunning, as would Ronaldinho to International (the arch rival of his former club Gremio).
Tom Brady to Miami or the Jets.
M.United please don´t cry….jajajaja Now Tevez will win you in the next match….
On the other hand…without Tevez and Cristiano forget to win another league….loserssssssss !!!
Aguante Boca !!! Tevez sos re groso !!!
Interesting take kahlva. Not being sarcastic ha. I hadn’t really thought much about that and I don’t think others have either. If money shouldn’t be an object then clubs should show more loyalty to players too. But then again, often their motivation is to get a more effective player and win, not just money. But still an interesting point
^^^ I think aiden might end up a bhoy for life,I know he will never go to rangers though atleast haha 😀
LD was always a So cal Kid,always a galaxy. Larsson was a good at celtic he loved the fans just as much as the fans loved him, he would be the last guy to do something like that.
Levesque to Portland
Not a transfer, but…
Diego Maradona switches from Argentina to Brazil.
Tevez looks like he got hit with the ugly stick a couple times too many, but the guy can play…
haha. tevez looks like the dude from forgetting sarah marshall.
Roy Keane to Arsenal.
Zidane managing Italy in 2014 would be a fairly talked-about switch.
Could you imagine if McGeady went from Celtic to Rangers? That’s one that would piss the hell out of me. Good to know it’ll never happen….
As a Celtic supporter in the US, I have no problem getting behind Edu and Beasley when they aren’t playing under that banner of oppression…haha!
Tevez to City…who the hell cares? United are fine w/out him. Yeah he came up big in some important moments but overall…not a fan.
Sol Campbell to Arsenal is still a huge deal for Spurs fans. He gets disgusting abuse hurled at him every time he goes back.
What about when ESPN signed Alexi Lalas. Not a rival club of course… I just hate him. One of the most horrific things ESPN has ever done.
Palermo to River and Messi to Real
Thiery Henry to Spurs would make me cry for days and days.
Wayne Rooney to United was a bit harsh, although there really isn’t a rivalry between Everton and United that I know of. They are close geographically, but I don’t know how much the fans hate each other. Besides, the big clubs buy young academy players all the time.
Not a sermon, just a thought.
FIXXXER,
That’s ridiculous. There’s no obligation to support a club just because they have one of your players. What if there was an American at Celtic and one at Rangers, good luck trying to cheer for both of them.
Any Chicago Fire or Energy Drinker to DC United would result in a season ticket-canceling.
Okay, so I wouldn’t cancel my season tickets, but I would let the FO know how unhappy I was, and threaten to do so.
Maradona manages England.
No. Messi to Real Madrid would be nowhere near as stunning/a backstab as Puyol to Real Madrid. Messi is a better and more famous player (outside Catalunya), of course. But Carlos Puyol *is* Barcelona, and has been for a long time.
Paolo Maldini to Inter…
As a Crew fan I would hate to see Blanco. The Nordeck would probably protest. We already have a slow midfielder who takes horrible dives and his name is Ekpo. We certainly don’t need two.
Does anyone remember when Figo went from Barca to Real Madrid? I seem to remember there being much gnashing of teeth on that one.
Kevin – that’s what I think. If you call yourself a fan of the USMNT and can’t support a player that has made arguably the biggest move in USMNT history then I have no time for you. There are clubs I absolutely can’t stand, but would support any USMNT player on those clubs.
Speaking of rivals & mercenaries, it seems like managers aren’t immune either. Because of the way Osario left, I immediately had enmity for that organization.