The Wijnaldum conundrum

[peekay]

Seedorf was technically far superior to Gini, much as I like Gini. Superlative technique is something you can rely upon well into your 30s even as your body declines. Not sure Gini can.

I think he can play for a long time in Serie A. A 35 year old Ashley Young made 18 appearances for the team which came second in half a season. 39 year old Zlatan just scored 10 goals. As long as he is not affected by injuries, I can see him play 4-5 years in Serie A.

 

[dmishra]

Inter would be the club who would seem tailor made for him I think. I think our long term plan is to replace him with Aouar btw.

 

[peekay]

Pat Riley, a basketball GM in the NBA with the Heat, wrote a book where he tried to explain what happens after a team has success - he called it the Disease of More. He won six Championships during a long career and saw how teams failed to replicate it.

He noticed how when a team had success it leads to each individual believing they played a huge part in the success and as a result they deserve more playing time, more money, more scoring opportunites etc etc.

The players would become more focused on individual success than team success. And that would reduce their chance of defending a championship.

That might be what we are seeing here. Gini was an important cog in one of the best teams the league has seen in years. He's due an extension and is using that as leverage for whatever it is he wants.

Very good post and interesting perspective.

I also think there is the possibility it is the way we negotiate and offer contracts - it is more like the US - with lesser guaranteed money compared to other top clubs and more incentives based on performance and structure. This is ok when we negotiate with younger players or players with whom we have the leverage. When we bought Gini, we held all the aces, Newcastle was relegated, his form was not that great, etc.

But for the next contract, players are not willing to accept a similar model and want more guaranteed money on parity with what Juve, Chelsea pay which we are not willing to offer unless the player is a marquis one.

I also think FSG are willing to let less than marquis players like Can and Gini leave on a free than offer 150k plus salary. It is a calculated risk they are willing to take.

Having said that, I don't think we can extrapolate or compare FGS's strategy towards Gini's contract extension with Can or any other player in the past. If COVID did not happen, maybe they would have happily given into his wage demands.