What the hell is going on here? Players who ought to be at the peak of their careers, playing in the top leagues, now deciding to head to China? Nope, the league in China has not seen an incredible growth. It's a move based purely on the lust for cash, a new mansion and maybe a yacht.
Both Ramires and Gervinho are very good players. Gervinho maybe had his best days for Roma, but he's still someone who would be able to be part of many top seven teams. An argue could be made that he was one of Roma's best players. During their great winning run, he was the star of the show and it made Arsenal fans wonder why he didn't show that kind of football for them.
Ramires is the one that really has me scratching my head. For all that he's done for Chelsea, and still being one of their most important players, I can't believe he'd make this move. Ramires moreso than Gervinho, is someone who can definitely get into most teams. When you think of his defensive strengths, great stamina, and good footwork to keep the ball; he is a very useful player. But I guess the only reason he would move is because of the incredible amount of cheddar he would receive.
That is what bothers me about this. This peaked my interest when Eto'o made the Chinese move. He was at the top of his game, being the most dangerous box-striker in the world for Inter. Then out of nowhere he decided to take his talents to China. It made everyone raise their eyebrows and slap themselves twice to make sure it was true. Then you find out how much he was getting paid and it all made sense, and all you could do was shake your head.
I don't think you need any investigative skills to know that Gervinho and Ramires were very comfortable financially. You don't see any footballers playing in top divisons having to get another job just make ends meets and pay the bills. So the move to China is about earning even more money, which begs the question; are these "footballers" at all concerned about the actual sport or just the cash?
When Eto'o left China to return to Chelsea, he wasn't the same player. He'd gotten worse. Slightly better when he moved to Sampdoria, but not the same deadly striker we saw at Inter. I believe the same thing will happen to both Gervinho and Ramires. They just won't be at the same level if they opt to return back to the big leagues after a few years in the far east.
Sad. We have now reached a stage where footballers are sacrificing playing at the top level all in the name of having an extra yacht...you know...just in case an army of piranhas chew down the one they already have.
Source: Soccernet.com
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