So according to pretty much everybody on twitter, Rubin has rejected the loan offers from Napoli and LFC. Now we need to decide if we want to buy the player outright for around €15M. We are said to be considering our options.
I would be in favor of a loan deal with a buy-out clause. However I have serious concerns about buying M'Vila outright:
1. He allegedly was a client of a prostitute who was 15 at the time, accruing to the phone and text message records seized by police. The legal process is ongoing and there is a possibility that it might eventually go to court. If convicted M'Vila might spend years in jail and his professional career would be finished. If it goes to court and he is not convicted, this could still understandably become a major distraction for him and whatever team he is playing for. Do you really build your team around a player who might be not available and/or mentally fucked up because he has to attend criminal court hearings in another country?
2. M'Vila is currently banned from playing for his national team because of a different incident in which he allegedly organized a night out for several U-21 teammates a couple of days before a decisive play-off match (they subsequently lost the match in which they were clear favorites). For me, this raises serious questions about his character – this seems less like harmless indiscretions of youth and more like a person who just fundamentally doesn't understand the concept of sacrificing a bit of personal pleasure for the sake of the team. Needless to say, this could severely undermine the kind of professional attitude and work ethic that's being instilled at Liverpool by Rodgers. The same media outlets who are now writing glowing scouting reports on M'Vila will happily rip him and our team apart if he ever gets himself into any kind of trouble here in Liverpool. I especially worry about the potential effect on the young Sterling; he doesn't need any bad examples near him.
3. The decision to "flee" to Russia (how else do you describe a potentially world-class French player going to Kazan' at age 22?) raises a few more questions for me. First of all, that the prostitute case is serious enough that him and his advisers thought that he just couldn't stay in Western Europe, that he needed to go somewhere as far as possible. What's more, Kazan' is one of the most secretive and corrupt Russian cities; the club is bankrolled directly by the local "ruler." It's fair to assume that any kind of wild parties or misdemeanors are perfectly OK there if you're one of the stars on the "ruler's" team. There are no nosy journalists digging up trash on the players' behavior; no impartial law enforcement to punish any law-breaking activity regardless of wealth or fame. The reason there were no negative stories coming out of Kazan' about M'Vila is most likely not because of any "maturation" on the part of the player, but simply because no negative stories come out of that place, like, ever. He could have slept with 10 underage girls and killed a man while driving a tractor drunk at night and we would not hear a peep about it. Needless to say, England is pretty much a polar opposite of that environment. If he signs for any team here and avoids the front pages of the tabloids the next 3 months, I'd very (pleasantly) surprised.
In conclusion, I want to say that particularly in Ukraine and Russia I've seen countless players of great talent and promise who could not overcome the temptations of partying and drinking afforded by their sudden wealth, and as a result have thrown away their careers. This is the biggest difference between the West and Eastern Europe; for you in the West the players who were supremely talented but didn't make it due to their own stupidity are mostly the exception; for us it's the rule and the ones who managed their careers with total professionalism are a relatively rare exception. You can't deny that there is a clear difference in the cultures when it comes to work ethic; that's the main explanation for why England or Germany has many more world-class players than Ukraine or Russia (it's not like British or German kids are on average more talented at football, right?). Because I've seen so many of these stories, I might be more attuned to the danger of unprofessionalism and bad attitude than some of you seem to be. I'm not denying than M'Vila is a talent but there is nothing so far in his career that suggests he knows how to manage his talent – so personally, I would stay away if the outright purchase was the only option.
Feel free to disagree with me. The poll is above.
I would be in favor of a loan deal with a buy-out clause. However I have serious concerns about buying M'Vila outright:
1. He allegedly was a client of a prostitute who was 15 at the time, accruing to the phone and text message records seized by police. The legal process is ongoing and there is a possibility that it might eventually go to court. If convicted M'Vila might spend years in jail and his professional career would be finished. If it goes to court and he is not convicted, this could still understandably become a major distraction for him and whatever team he is playing for. Do you really build your team around a player who might be not available and/or mentally fucked up because he has to attend criminal court hearings in another country?
2. M'Vila is currently banned from playing for his national team because of a different incident in which he allegedly organized a night out for several U-21 teammates a couple of days before a decisive play-off match (they subsequently lost the match in which they were clear favorites). For me, this raises serious questions about his character – this seems less like harmless indiscretions of youth and more like a person who just fundamentally doesn't understand the concept of sacrificing a bit of personal pleasure for the sake of the team. Needless to say, this could severely undermine the kind of professional attitude and work ethic that's being instilled at Liverpool by Rodgers. The same media outlets who are now writing glowing scouting reports on M'Vila will happily rip him and our team apart if he ever gets himself into any kind of trouble here in Liverpool. I especially worry about the potential effect on the young Sterling; he doesn't need any bad examples near him.
3. The decision to "flee" to Russia (how else do you describe a potentially world-class French player going to Kazan' at age 22?) raises a few more questions for me. First of all, that the prostitute case is serious enough that him and his advisers thought that he just couldn't stay in Western Europe, that he needed to go somewhere as far as possible. What's more, Kazan' is one of the most secretive and corrupt Russian cities; the club is bankrolled directly by the local "ruler." It's fair to assume that any kind of wild parties or misdemeanors are perfectly OK there if you're one of the stars on the "ruler's" team. There are no nosy journalists digging up trash on the players' behavior; no impartial law enforcement to punish any law-breaking activity regardless of wealth or fame. The reason there were no negative stories coming out of Kazan' about M'Vila is most likely not because of any "maturation" on the part of the player, but simply because no negative stories come out of that place, like, ever. He could have slept with 10 underage girls and killed a man while driving a tractor drunk at night and we would not hear a peep about it. Needless to say, England is pretty much a polar opposite of that environment. If he signs for any team here and avoids the front pages of the tabloids the next 3 months, I'd very (pleasantly) surprised.
In conclusion, I want to say that particularly in Ukraine and Russia I've seen countless players of great talent and promise who could not overcome the temptations of partying and drinking afforded by their sudden wealth, and as a result have thrown away their careers. This is the biggest difference between the West and Eastern Europe; for you in the West the players who were supremely talented but didn't make it due to their own stupidity are mostly the exception; for us it's the rule and the ones who managed their careers with total professionalism are a relatively rare exception. You can't deny that there is a clear difference in the cultures when it comes to work ethic; that's the main explanation for why England or Germany has many more world-class players than Ukraine or Russia (it's not like British or German kids are on average more talented at football, right?). Because I've seen so many of these stories, I might be more attuned to the danger of unprofessionalism and bad attitude than some of you seem to be. I'm not denying than M'Vila is a talent but there is nothing so far in his career that suggests he knows how to manage his talent – so personally, I would stay away if the outright purchase was the only option.
Feel free to disagree with me. The poll is above.
