Real in For Ibra? Please, Don’t Make Me Laugh.
By: Martha | May 11th, 2007
While I’ll admit Ibra is, at times, enough of a pain in the ass to fit in with Real’s irrational buying patterns, the mere suggestion that Inter would part with the big Swede (I felt like Ray Hudson went I typed that. Kill me now.) is laughable.
Unless, that is, we believe a largely speculative article in today’s La Gazzetta dello Sport, which suggests there is at least a slight chance such a deal could happen. According to the piece, Ibra’s former coach Fabio Capello has asked Real to make an approach for the striker, one that would include a yearly salary of nearly €6 million. Coincidentally, the Swede is allegedly asking Inter for a pay raise to bring him closer to the pay level of fellow Nike boys Ronaldinho and the pretty Ronaldo, both of whom currently earn more than Ibra’s €4 million/year. (Why he thinks he deserves what they do is unclear — granted, wor Ibra has had a fantastic season and is finally growing up a bit, but it seems to me he’s got a ways to go before he’ll merit the international recognition of the two Rons.) This, supposedly, could be an issue for Inter, not because they lack the funds to pay him, but rather because the club is wary of paying one person significantly more than the rest of the team. And, since obviously this sort of concern for intra-team tension is not something anyone in the Real boardroom ever considers, it certainly wouldn’t put them off.
Additionally, there’s a lot in the article about Ibra’s ambition, and his desire to be at a club that shares his desire to be the best in Europe. Why on earth that would lead him to leave Inter is beyond me, though — they just ran away with the Scudetto and advanced further in the Champions League than Real who, while still in the hunt for the La Liga title, have not exactly been dominant this season.
All of this, really, is probably moot. Even if Inter won’t break their pay-scale for Ibra, one gets the sense they’re willing to go pretty far for him and, since he’s having more success with the Nerazzurri than he has anywhere else in his life, it’s unlikely he’d be unwilling to negotiate regarding his wage demands. That said, Ibra’s never been the most rational guy, so who the hell really know what he’ll do?
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Comments
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Right now, he’s a “big fish” in Inter, but if he goes to Real, he’ll probably sit on the bench, because they have so many high-profile players.
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Yeah, I saw that too. Bollocks. He never struck me as someone so entirely without common sense. Then again, Fabio Cannavaro always struck me as an exceptionally pragmatic sort of fellow. I have to admit that the thought of Zlatan leaving Italy – and a club and set-up that actually seems to *work* for him, I don’t even want to think of what he’s going to do if he goes head to head with van Nistelrooy – makes me a little sad, since I like him and want him to do well.
Someday someone will sit down and try and untangle all the million, zillion threads of screwed-upness that go into making la Real. Until then, we can just sit around and watch it explode. Popcorn?
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Also like plz! You got nothing on me re: Ronaldinho, but if Mr Stepover gets all the money, fame and women, I think Mr Chewing Gun deserves at least as much.
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