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Seconds out
England: Seconds out ...
Marc Fox
While there may be a dearth of real debate about the state of today's English Premier League, you could probably sell tickets for a discussion between Manchester City's wantaway captain Carlos Tevez and Spurs full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
It might not be all that rare for the financial ethics of the multi-billion dollar Premiership machine to come under scrutiny from outsiders, but clearly it's uncommon to find two stars from the league's biggest hitters offering such contrasting views.
Although the exact motivation behind Tevez's decision to hand in a transfer request last weekend remains unclear, the Argentine striker's reason is clearly not money – well, certainly not the desire to have any more.
This week has exposed the truth that Tevez is City's – and therefore the league's – highest earner with a weekly wage well in excess of £200,000.
Yet this astronomical income has not dissuaded him from once again demanding to be released from the remainder of his three-and-a-half contract. This follows the news that he snubbed millions of pounds in bonuses during the summer after voicing his unrest then.
Tevez will meet with boss Roberto Mancini on Friday in the wake of complaining that certain non-financial promises made to him had been broken and claiming that his relationship with certain executives (most likely chief executive Garry Cook) at the club was irreparable.
Asked whether he thought he could change Tevez's mind, Mancini said: "I don't know, I don't know. It is important we speak. We have important games coming up - lots of important games this month."
The forward has made it known he misses his two daughters who remain in Buenos Aires, while his relationship with Mancini is clearly not as close as the City manager likes to make out.
However, the 26-year-old has also repeatedly expressed his disillusionment with football – especially the Premier League – by claiming that modern footballers are money-hungry, unambitious and show too little respect for the game's true achievers.
Last month, he said: "I don't want to play anymore. I'm tired of football but also tired of people who work in football. I'm talking seriously. Football is only about money and I don't like it.
"There are so many agents with really young footballers. It's awful as these young players are not interested in winning titles. They only want money."
While plenty of players would publicly refute Tevez's allegations, there is one – Tottenham's Assou-Ekotto – who is comfortable fulfilling that preconception.
And the Cameroonian's truthful admittance earlier this year that he only plays football in England for the money hasn't stopped Spurs boss Harry Redknapp keeping faith with his left-back and even this month offering him a new lucrative five-year deal with the club.
As Assou-Ekotto says: "With Harry, it's cool. We don't speak a lot and he doesn't care if I smile or if I know who the next team we play is. If I do my job well, it's OK."
The 26-year-old, who has been appointed as a special advocate for the Millennium Campaign to try to end extreme poverty in Africa, also appears to dispute Tevez's claims of not striving for greater wealth by claiming that all footballers - not just the new breed - are hypocritical mercenaries and that their driving force has always been money.
"It's only a job. Yes, it's a good, good job and I don't say that I hate football but it's not my passion," he said.
"I arrive in the morning at the training ground at 10.30 and I start to be professional. I finish at one o'clock and I don't play football afterwards. When I am at work, I do my job 100%. But after, I am like a tourist in London.
"I don't understand why everybody lies."
© Marc Fox & Soccerphile.com
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