“After a few mysterious phone conversations, it turned out that they wanted to sell me. I was disappointed,” writes Tim Sparv
We’re getting close summer and the busy transfer window of European football. Players come and players go; that’s how the system works. Players are a commodity in a world that is becoming more and more commercial. At the same time, clubs and supporters demand loyalty and team spirit from them, but sometimes you forget that it always takes two to tango.
Tim Sparv
From the player’s point of view, changing clubs is not always painless. He may be having a great time where he is, but the club wants to get rid of him for one reason or another. The importance of a long contract is really small. Going against the will of the club usually doesn’t end well.
Sometimes the player himself wants to leave. There are a couple of clubs that are interested, but the player is not completely free to choose the club and environment that would suit him best. The club will preferably sell him to the highest bidder and make it clear that he has to go or stay there until the next transfer window. Then the situation can be completely different.
Who wouldn’t remember the iconic player of Barcelona and the club Lionel Messi’s drama between. In 2020, Messi himself would have liked to leave, but ultimately decided to stay. In 2021, he would have liked to stay, but had to leave due to Barcelona’s catastrophic financial situation.
Messi’s children and wife burst into tears when they heard that the family would have to move out of Barcelona. The children would not have wanted to give up their school and friends and start all over again in a new country. It can be good to remember that the transfer does not only affect the player, but often his whole family.
Self I remember a chaotic summer in Sweden and Halmstads BK. I had emptied my apartment and packed my things and was ready to move to my new company in Holland. At the very last moment, however, Halmstads BK said no. Due to the difficult situation of the team, the club wanted to keep me in their ranks until the winter. For the next six months, I slept on a mattress on the floor of my empty and barren apartment, the team barely managed to stay in the Allsvenskan, and the last details about the transfer to FC Groningen were finalized.
Another time I was sitting at home in Vaasa enjoying a vacation after my first season in Germany. It was a good season behind me, and I was waiting to fly back and start preparing for the next season. However, the club had other things in mind.
After a few mysterious phone conversations, it turned out that they wanted to sell me. I was disappointed. I felt like a package on the grocery store shelf. Some club obviously wanted to buy me, but I was happy in Germany and I wouldn’t have wanted to leave.
However, I felt that I had to bend. Between the lines, I understood that I wouldn’t be able to give my best in the coming season, and I needed playing time so that I wouldn’t lose the chance for a place in the national team. The club I moved to was the Danish FC Midtjylland, where I spent the best years of my football career, that is, all’s well that ends well, all’s well. The move still left a bad taste in my mouth.
Start don’t get me wrong: the opportunity to work and live in different countries is one of the best aspects of the sport, but even a footballer can feel sadness, stress and frustration when he has to give up a club and community where he has enjoyed himself, and I think it is naive to demand loyalty and team spirit from a player if his own club does not respond in the same way .
Finnish translation: Laura Jänisniemi
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