David Beckham, Mario Balotelli, Mario Balotelli, Brek Shea
Beckham and others find new homes
By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer
The January transfer window is officially closed but what a finish! Some names on the move include David Beckham, Mario Balotelli, Nacho Monreal, and MLS star Brek Shea. The most amusing news of the day wasn’t actually a transfer though, but more on that later.
First things first: David Beckham. The man who was reportedly earning $50 million a season at one point has signed with Paris Saint-Germain. He probably won’t play much for the French giants, but at this point in his career he’s just having fun. He’s got all the money in the world, and he emphasized that with news of what he’s going to do with his salary. Goldenballs is donating all of the reported £3.4 million he is to receive to a currently unnamed local children’s charity. It’s a nice gesture and one that is all too rare in the sporting world today. Athletes with untold amounts of wealth continually just pocket their paycheques, eat caviar until they’re too bloated to move, and then maybe, just maybe, throw some leftover coin at a charity. Those who are picking on Beckham, saying that a few million is nothing to him, need to stop and think for a second. Yes, Becks has a ridiculous amount of money, but £3.4 million isn’t exactly chump change here. On top of that, no one forced, expected, or even suggested he should make such a generous contribution. Getting on his back for being a good guy is completely nonsensical.
The other major move near the end of the window was troublemaking striker Mario Balotelli heading to AC Milan. The transfer supposedly brought in £20 million for Manchester City, though the club probably doesn’t need it. The problematic striker’s arrival in Italy was greeted enthusiastically by AC Milan fans, especially since Balotelli was formerly a member of Inter Milan. Look forward to more grossly inappropriate actions from Balotelli as he seeks to establish himself at the club.
Nacho Monreal made the switch from Malaga to Arsenal for £8.5 million and will provide some much needed support to the Gunners’ back line. Other moves included Heurelho Gomes getting out of his Tottenham mess to Hoffenheim, Jermaine Jenas and Christopher Samba signing for QPR, and Danny Graham ending up in Sunderland. Also of note is Liverpool acknowledging the fact that they will make Andy Carroll’s West Ham switch permanent at the end of the season.
Finally, the ultimate foot in mouth moment of the last day, West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie made the long trek to London to finalize a deal with QPR for his services. The kicker? The deal wasn’t close to being done, didn’t get done, and QPR wouldn’t even let him on the grounds. He also managed to burn some bridges with the fans with several tweets before taking off. Needless to say, the club has all but suspended him, telling him not to show up for training and saying that he won’t be needed for the weekend’s game. Odemwingie is definitely a special player.
