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LET’S HOPE THE CHINESE KNOW WHAT THERE ARE DOING

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The question of passion or love versus material wealth in football has over the years been asked and answered in various ways.


There was a time the former had a very big say over the latter – think for example Diego Maradona’s decision to stick with Napoli – and viewers have ever since been treated to a plethora of tales of loyalty, passion and sacred bonds players did have for their teams.

The matador-like push of club football to premium status in the early 90’s was a major factor that kick-started the dynamics of football as we know it today. Being honest demands admission that gone are those days where emotional attachments held sway – although players like Gerard and Totti tried their best to prove otherwise and for the record it did come at a price – inability for such legendary names to have a league title attached to them.

Another school of thought will tell you that the relegation of loyalty to the background did not necessarily have to do with players’ “long throats,” pinning a chunk of the blame-cake on club themselves. Like the two-way street loyalty is, a peruse at records will lead searchlights to beam on instances where clubs terminated or refused to renew contracts with even “one time” fan-favourites mainly because the “returns in value” of the player in question dipped below standard “requirements” and an extension of the said contract only “hurts” the club in the long run. This is the reason emotionally-stirred muses of supposed loyalty don’t hold water because at the end of the day football – especially at the club level – remains business, a set-up where profit is the ultimate goal.

This makes the media “pointing-of-hands” over who wronged who in contract negotiations look like airy reactions to the changes that occur in a system that runs on logic, mathematics and profit-focused book-keeping. The batting of eyelids at how easily European based players are switching to the new rich kid in the block ready to shell out wads for the street folks – The Chinese Super League – should not in all sincerity warrant such shocks & outrages.

INTER MILAN SIGN ANWAR EL GHAZI

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Italian side, Inter Milan have reportedly beaten off a host of competition to secure the signature of Anwar El Ghazi from Ajax.

The club was resolute in the bid for the youngster. The 20-year-old, who joined Ajax in 2012 after spending time at Feyenoord and Sparta Rotterdam, has been linked with a number of clubs in recent months, including The Red Devils in England.


Much earlier this year, fellow Italian side, AC Milan also revealed that they were interested in the Netherlands international, but Milan have lost out to Inter Milan, who have reached an agreement with El Ghazi’s Dutch club according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

The young attacker, who has a tough job to do at Inter, has scored 11 times in 33 appearances for Ajax this season. Inter Milan’s victory over Udinese was the first ever Serie A match with no Italians starting for either team.

Bafetimbi Gomis might recover in time for Swansea City’s match against Arsenal

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A hamstring tear has forced Bafetimbi Gomis to be unable to play in the pitch for almost an entire month but now medical reports are coming in and are claiming that the recovery of the French attacker is going faster than expected and he might be able to perform in Swansea City’s Premier League match against Arsenal which is scheduled to take place on May 11.

Bafetimbi Gomis is an important player for Garry Monk as the player has scored 5 goals in this season. He is one of the top goal-scorers for the Premier League club.

The manager of Swansea City, Garry Monk announced that Gomis has already been training with the rest of his teammates but it remains uncertain if Gomis would be able to perform against Arsenal.

Garry Monk said: “Bafe is back in training and we will have to assess if he is ready to start, but it will be good to have him back as we are getting short on bodies. We have had a few injuries, but that comes back to adding to the squad.

5 goals in this season might not sound like a very high amount of goals but Bafetimbi Gomis along with Ki Sung-Yeung and Gylfi Sigurdsson are the top goal-scorers of Swansea City in this campaign.