There is a huge knock-on effect from this situation. £80,000 per week is way above what our wage structure will allow. It will bleed more and more money out of the club, money that could be used for wages of other players coming in to the club. Stevie want's Rafa to bring in more players of high quality yet has tightened to rope around Rafa's neck by limiting the funds.
In 2 or 3 years time we will be back here in the same situation. Stevie will be coming to the end of another contract and his demands will surely only ever get higher... if he has 3 more contracts before the end of his career he will be asking for £120k per week +. That is the problem with young players being hoisted up into superstar status by the media. Fame gets into their heads and their ego grows. The agents can demand £40,000 per week before their clients hit 20 years old. Then if that players remains a quality player he will be earning more and more throughout his career. To be successful you need young talent but you cannot keep offering a young player more and more money every time there's a new contract because by the time they are 25, before they've even peaked, they are the highest earners and there isn't enough cash.
And what about the other players?
Benitez is trying to maintain a team of equal players each as important as the next. How will they feel if they are match winners or key players, but only on £40,000 per week and Stevie Gerrard, who for large parts of the season isn't much better than anyone else, is earning double?
And Steven Gerrard wasn't even our best player last season. If he wants £80k per week then why shouldn't Carragher be on £90k per week? and then Alonso could be asking for similar wages... etc etc.. all of a sudden we have 10 players earning over £60,000 per week. That is impossible to fund.
This whole situation could end up blowing up in both Gerrards and our faces.
The way to get around this situation in the future is to offer much longer contracts and have buy-out clauses.
When Stevie was last offered a contract it should have been for 8 years. That way you know you have at least 5 years before any renegotiations need to be considered and the player will not leave on a free. If, after 5 years the wages leap from £40,000 per week to £60,000 per week then if you put him on another 8 year contract then is can not increase, therefore giving the club a more structured plan and more stability for a longer period of time. At any point during this contract time we could sell the player for the £40m asking price if we feel we won't be able to offer £80,000 after the next five years and you get to at least see the player hit his peak without having to pay excessive prices, (not that £60k per week is a normal wage!). If the player sees out his contract and leaves on a free, at least he'd be about 30 years old and we'd have gotten a lot of good use out of him.
Damn the agents.
by