LOYALTY

Saturday brought the rather surprising news that Granit Xhaka’s time at Sunderland could be coming to a close just one year into his three-year contract. After all that he has said in the last 12 months, he may already be done on Wearside, which raises a question, is there any loyalty left in football?

As the full-time whistle blew on May 24th, the players stood huddled together checking to see if they had done the unthinkable. A newly promoted side had done their bit, but now they await the results around them to find out if they had gotten Sunderland into the Europa League. European football back on Wearside for the first time since ‘74. The celebrations as the players found out the news was incredible to see. How much these lads cared. Granit Xhaka right in the middle of it. His speech at full time gave everyone goosebumps as he told us “This is just the beginning”.

While out in America with Switzerland for the World Cup he was asked about his future and he made it clear he was settled at Sunderland. Yet here we are, just over a month on from that Chelsea game he has seemingly already agreed personal terms to go to that very club.

I feel that it needs to be made clear that outgoings are expected this summer. The likes of Brian Brobbey, Noah Sadiki and Robin Roefs are going to be highly sought after and with all of these players on long contracts, we hold the power and would be able to get big fees. Both parties benefit and we thank them for their service.

However, with Xhaka it just feels different. The man that all season has held such high standards, has spoken about how happy he is here, how Sunderland reminds him of back home, yet at the first opportunity he wants out? I do not think anybody can blame us fans for feeling that leaves a rather bitter and sour taste. I think this brings a key reminder, in an age in football where its all about PR and media training, these players are saying what they want you to hear. When they post on their socials after the game, that’s not them, it is somebody they are paying to do it for them. It is a harsh reminder that sadly, a lot of these players just do not care about us supporters.

If you are a Premier League club and not in the ‘Big 6’, where by the way two of those teams are not actually competing in Europe next year (one of those Chelsea), it is now a rarity a player stays for as long as someone like Luke O’Nien. We are simply expected to be almost feeder clubs for the elite and there is sadly nothing you can do about it and you have just got to reap the rewards of the massive fees they will pay and constantly rebuild. This has been our model and I would imagine we will cope a lot better than others might.

Another sad reality is Geography. If you come to England as a foreign player, would you rather play up in the North East for Newcastle or Sunderland, or potentially live the lifestyle in London playing for Brentford or Fulham for example? If you asked me, I would want to play for a big club in front of big crowds, but in modern day football it’s more about the lifestyle rather than anything else. Is it any wonder there is such a lack of northern sides in the Premier League?

In this case, of course, going to Chelsea on paper from Sunderland would make sense. Saying that, at the age of 34 you would be choosing to miss out on European football to be a part of a transition season at Stamford Bridge. This is a club that, as soon as they return to the Champions League, are going to replace you with a £60m+ player and at the age of 35, let’s be honest they will chuck you to the side like a child would with a toy they are bored of playing with.

It’s been frustrating news to hear and although nothing is agreed - with a rather pathetic bid of £8m the only offer to come in so far - you get a sense the player really wants the move. Unfortunately, when a player wants a move, majority of the time they get what they want in the end. The recent update from Florian Plettenberg, which states Xhaka “has great respect for Sunderland” feels like nothing but damage limitation to his reputation up here. Think the fact he has seemingly been in talks with another club behind our back says otherwise.

Overall, the answer to the question, there is no loyalty in football, Xhaka may not be the only one to leave this summer but I feel the circumstances around the project we thought he was here to build make this one a particularly hard pill to swallow. One thing I would say is that the club deserve our absolute backing to replace him properly and in truth the only person to be annoyed at is the man himself.