The Illusion of Choice

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The best football players in the world should have the pick of the best teams in the world, right?

Well, that’s not always the case. And that illusion of choice is becoming more and more prevalent.

Seb Stafford-Bloor explains why that is the case, and what the best players should do. Illustrated by Philippe Fenner.

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Received wisdom suggests that the better a footballer is the more options they should have but in the modern game where the elite teams enjoy unprecedented Prosperity it turns out it’s the reverse that’s true today the best footballers work in the world with fewer and fewer options and where Choice has essentially become a

Losery according to supply and demand this is how football should work when the very best footballers decide to leave their clubs they should have options in different countries from different teams the player would then have a choice to make which coach to play for in which country and in what

Tactical system surrounded by which teammates worldclass players are the scarce resource and yet increasingly football’s marketplace with its inflated economics and financial disparities doesn’t treat them as such the opportunities are what a scarce and players are almost designated Landing spots to illustrate how this has changed consider an example from the summer of

19 1996 When Alan Sheera left Blackburn Rovers and joined Newcastle for what was then a world record transfer fee of15 million Shera had been the Premier League’s top scorer for the past two seasons had also had a prolific European Championship with England winning the tournament’s Golden Boot and was

Considered among the best goal scorers in the world he joined Newcastle his hometown Club but also attracted interest that summer from Inter Milan Barcelona and Manchester United four different teams in three different countries all representative of different sorts of challenges and different styles of play 27 years later Harry Kane provided an interesting

Example in the summer of 2023 of how the space at football Summit has contracted arguably the world’s Premier goal scorer Kane was determined to leave Tottenham and yet he had surprisingly few options only one really and it was less than ideal Bayern Munich are a vast Club bigger and far more successful than

Spurs but Kane was joining at a time of boardroom uncertainty when the existing team was reaching the end of its cycle and when in in the immediate future Bayern would likely be facing some of the transitional challenges that Kane was actually trying to leave behind in North London but Kane joined anyway

Making a decision that described a few different issues the first was that there are now very few clubs in well football that can afford truly elite players Italian football’s Financial issues have been further exacerbated by the repeal of the growth decree which provided tax breaks for high income

Earners from abroad in Spain Barcelona’s crippling debt has been extensively covered as have La liga’s limits on what the club is able to spend each season on top of which those teams around the world who could have afforded Kane in the summer of 2023 excluded themselves from the process for different reasons

Chelsea and Arsenal could never have really agreed a deal with Tottenham because of historic rivalries Manchester City already had earling Holland Manchester United were limited by the Premier League’s profit in sustainability rules Paris sgain still had Kelly and mbappe and because of their domestic League status were probably a less than desirable option

And that characterizes the problem well players of Kane’s standing are too expensive for all but the very very few that’s one issue the second is that major transfers always depend on timing ordinarily at Major clubs and in the most important positions one player has to leave to create a vacancy for another

To fill finally because the biggest European leagues are no longer equal the wealthiest clubs and highest paid coaches are generally clustered in one or at best two countries meaning that domestic rivalries are much more likely to be obstructive the cumulative impact with each of those factors considered is

That elite players moving have a narrow number of options and have to accept certain compromises if they wish to move ironically the more talented and expensive the player the bigger that problem seems to get Harry Kane is just one example he will likely not immediately win the trophies he’d H for

At Bayern despite playing very well he’s also suffered criticism for his playing style really as a result of his team’s poor overall form and its flaws but European football has become littered with examples of outstanding or enormously talented players players apparently having less choice about the steps taken in their career than they

Would have done in a different era romu Lukaku moving to Chelsea from Inter Milan in 2021 Christopher and kungu joining Chelsea from rby leig in 2023 Jaden Sancho leaving bsia Dortmund for Manchester United in 20121 Cristiano Ronaldo departing Old Trafford being unable to find a suitable Club in Europe

And choosing to move to Saudi Arabia instead neyar Matias Nunes Mason Mount all of those transfers were different financially for the players involved they were each beneficial nevertheless none of them represented an optimal scenario in fact for each transfer that truly is a perfect marriage Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid for instance

Where he was given an ideal role and surrounded by similarly aged teammates who complemented his abilities there are many more which are obviously not that’s either because of a lack of playing time a tactical unsuitability a loss of prestige or Limelight or simply because a player joined a club at An

Inconvenient time the fewer destination clubs there are the greater the risk that a player’s career and a club’s need did not align and that could even be true for Killian mbappe when he moves to Real Madrid it will be the kind of stage his talent demands but he’ll have to

Adapt his role around venicius Jr with whom he shares so many positional Tendencies one is the world’s best forward who likes to play from the left the other is the world’s best left Winger most likely mbappe will be highly successful wherever he goes but the game’s finest and most desired player

Still having to encounter an even minor comp location does show just how little space there is at the top of football if you like this video please consider subscribing to the channel the athletic is home to some of the world’s best sports journalists including David orstein Daniel Taylor Ole Kay Amy

Lawrence and Rafa honstein with the latest transfer news and insight on every Premier League Football story that matters the athletic.com puts you inside football and you can try it for free now for 30 days see the link in the description