The year is 2010. At the time, I was a young sprightly 22 year old. An optimum age for a football professional. Young enough to still represent a player with loads of potential and good resale value; old enough to welcome a certain level of responsibility within a team (depending on their level of maturity). It was July and I was enjoying the World Cup group stages with my friends and family.
With the remaining 20% of the time I had free whilst not watching world cup coverage, I was playing Championship Manager. For those not so familiar with this game franchise, it is a football manager simulation game, where you manage the club of your choice and experience the pressures of football management from the comfort of your own home.
Where am I going with this? Well, here is the reveal. I had five golden rules as a manager on the game regardless of the size of the club I was managing:
- Attack is always the best form of defence (4-3-3 or bust)
- Only CBs will be chosen as first team captains (full view of the pitch at all times)
- Never sign players 28 and over
- Players over 30 years of age do not get contract extensions (excluding CBs; one year extension max)
- Don’t hide from the hard decisions (no room for sentiment in football)
Fair to say I didn’t always get along with my players or the board. But more importantly, as a 22 year old, I flat out refused to sign any players over the age of 28. I also refused to extend the contracts of the most loyal players when they hit that ominous 30 mark.
The perfect example of this in action was when I was managing Manchester United. It was the summer ahead of the 2015/2016 season and Wayne Rooney demanded a new deal of 200k a week for the next 2 years. I flat out refused and moved him on with no hesitation to Juventus for 25m. Despite him being on the verge 30 and winning 3 consecutive Premier League and Champions League doubles (Pep, take note) and being the league’s top scorer for 4 consecutive seasons. I brutally moved him on without blinking.
Fast forward to 2019. I am now a not so spritely 30 year old, and when I engage with those under 25 years of age about football, in particular transfers, I occupy the position defending longer extensions for players heading towards the 30 year old mark.
What sparked this debate was the current Gareth Bale/Real Madrid ‘standoff’. Zidane has made it very clear that Bale is not a part of his plans for Real Madrid. A player of Bale’s calibre has been frozen out of the squad with no remorse and no sentiment. Everyone is aware of Bale’s ability as a footballer. He has won 4 Champions League medals in 6 seasons at Madrid. He is one of few footballers in the world that can and will make the difference in the biggest games of the season. He is widely regarded as the best player from the UK over the past 20 years. Putting personal issues with Zidane aside, I think it is pretty clear that the elephant in the room is and has always been his age. Bale will be 30 years old in July.
This poses a variety of issues for Real Madrid:
- Who will be willing to pay in excess of 80m for a 29 year old with limited resale value and prone to injury?
- Who will be willing to pay Bale the wages he will demand? (Bale is currently 6th highest paid player in the world)
- Who will be able to match Bale’s ambition as a professional? (competing for top honours both domestically and in Europe)
Yes, many will say that the money in football now has made it possible for deals for players in this situation and of Bale’s calibre to find a deal that suits both club and player, but this is always easier said than done when the stakes are this high. This will be Bale’s final big contract before his ‘inevitable’ move to the MLS, like many before him. Jonathan Barnett (Bale’s agent) will do everything in his power to make sure any move is in the best interest of his client.
To be fair, ageism in football is not a new thing, but it is far more prevalent now due to the level of commercialism in the game now, resulting in the exponential increase of player fees. The risk to invest in a player a year from 30 is a far more greater risk than it was 10 or 20 years ago.
The key question here is when does the line need to be drawn to prevent the prejudice and perception of the older footballer? Correlations between age and destination for top players hasn’t helped improve the perception that older players are ‘over the hill’, as the list of player moving to the MLS when they are 30+ keeps on growing at an exponential rate:
- David Beckham (LA Galaxy)
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic (LA Galaxy)
- Ashley Cole (LA Galaxy)
- Steven Gerrard (LA Galaxy)
- Wayne Rooney (D.C. United)
- Thierry Henry (NY Red Bulls)
- Frank Lampard (New York F.C.)
- David Villa (New York F.C.)
- Andrea Pirlo (New York F.C.)
- Kaka (Orlando City)
However, it is also worth remembering the players who were still playing at a ridiculously high level well past the 30 mark and were key players until their retirement or departure:
- Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) – leaving summer 2019
- Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich) – leaving summer 2019
- Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma) – leaving summer 2019
- Paolo Maldini (A.C. Milan) – retired 2009
- Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich) – retired 2017
- Xabi Alonso (Bayern Munich) – retired 2017
- Francesco Totti (AS Roma) – retired 2017
What is the moral of the story? Ageism is not going anywhere anytime soon and the reality is older players are more prone to injury and have less resale value, so pose a commercial risk to even the biggest and richest football clubs. However, this should not mean there is no room for sentiment especially for players that have achieved so much for their respective clubs, like Bale. My prayer is that we don’t find ourselves in the summer of 2026 where a 28 year old Kylian Mbappe is in the exact same situation as Bale. 4 Ballon d’Or trophies, 2 World Cups winner medals, 2 La Liga cups, 3 Champions League trophies, yet frozen out of the Real Madrid first team with no place to go due to his wage demands, transfer fee and most importantly – his ‘old’ age.
Fourfiveone 
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