A couple of weeks before the start of the
English Premier League season, the country's
most exciting player, its most reviled and the
linchpin of the England side are involved in
emotional and financial tug-of-wars with
their clubs.
Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez and Wayne Rooney
have been absent from recent pre-season
friendlies because they are carrying injuries,
are in no state to perform or have been
banished from the first team.
Winner of last season's English player of the
year awards, Tottenham's Bale has been
dazzled by the chance to join Real Madrid,
the most decorated of Europe's big clubs.
But his club's chairman, Daniel Levy, has a
reputation for playing hardball and Real are
almost certainly going to have to break the
world transfer record to take the Spurs
defender turned winger turned all-round
attacking talent to the Bernabeu.
Bale's speed and power, abetted by a
hammer shot and a fine dribbling instinct,
have been Tottenham's greatest assets in the
past two seasons when they narrowly missed
out on Champions League football.
The 24-year-old came to international notice
during Tottenham's run to the Champions
League last eight in 2010/11 and is desperate
for more of the same, all but guaranteed at
Real.
But, for now, Levy is standing firm with
British media suggesting Real may need to
cough up £100m to change his mind,
eclipsing the £80m they paid for Cristiano
Ronaldo when he left Manchester United in
2009.
"If you say 100 million I would say that
seems a lot…for anything," Real Madrid
president Florentino Perez told ESPN .
Champions League football is also behind
Suarez's desire to leave Liverpool. But once
again during his turbulent spell in England,
the Uruguayan is making few friends with his
approach to a £40m bid from Arsenal.
There is confusion about what Suarez was
promised when he signed a new deal last
year, and what is involved if another club
makes an offer for the striker, but if any
club deserved to be treated with
consideration by their player, it is Liverpool.
They have supported their top scorer, a
lightning conductor for trouble during his
2-1/2 years at Anfield, through two major
storms - his racist outburst at Manchester
United's Patrice Evra and his biting of
Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic.
He will miss early games in the new season
because he is still serving a 10-match ban
for the Ivanovic incident. Now Liverpool
manager Brendan Rodgers, after weeks of
warm words for his player and denials he
wanted to sell him, has had enough after
Suarez demanded Liverpool "honour our
agreement".
Rodgers who denies making any promises
about Suarez being allowed to leave has
accused him of "total disrespect" and has
banned him from training with the rest of
the Liverpool squad.
The eagerness of Bale and Suarez to break
contracts they signed just a year ago are
wearisomely familiar to clubs and fans up
and down the country, but the situation
surrounding Rooney also has the potential to
cause serious damage to England's most
famous club, Manchester United.
Rooney, often referred to as England's only
world-class footballer, has been at Old
Trafford since 2004 and been instrumental in
the club winning five Premier League titles
and one Champions League crown.
But United, the defending champions, are in
a state of flux and the last thing they want is
to lose their talisman striker, with a scoring
record of one goal in every two games. The
very last thing they want is for Rooney to
depart for Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, one of
their two main rivals for this season's title.
It is rare for top English players to go from
one elite Premier League club to a rival and
his exit would be a serious blow to United
manager David Moyes.
Moyes is in the very early stages of trying to
build a profile at United after taking over
from Alex Ferguson following his fellow
Scot's 27 years of ruling the Old Trafford
roost.
Players and fans used to Ferguson's
uncompromising attitude are watching
closely to see if Moyes has got what it takes
to control an ego-filled dressing room, and
particularly Rooney, who has been told he
will not be allowed to leave.
Moyes was the teenage Rooney's manager at
Everton and frustratingly for the new boss;
Rooney's main beef seems to be with
Ferguson who remains a major force at
United even after retirement.
United have not impressed in pre-season
friendlies and whether Rooney stays or goes
could have a major influence on the
champions' fortunes this season – and
whether Moyes is given the time to build an
empire to rival Ferguson's.
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