Since the Arab takeover last summer and in particular the arrival of Robinho from Real Madrid City have been the number 1 target for the media vultures, Loads a' Money impersonators and 'Boo Boys' alike. No signing has been spared their wrath from the January arrivals Santa Cruz, De Jong and Bellamy to the summer arrivals of Toure, Adebayor, Tevez and Gareth Barry.
To understand what a mercenary is we have to look at the very core of the word. A Merc is a private soldier of fortune who fights for personal wealth or gain, rather than for a good cause or overwhelming patriotic feeling .
So in footballing terms a mercenary can be seen as anybody who leaves his own team team for financial or personal gain. A player who has no longer the affection for their team in which they started their careers or at least joined very early on.
Putting that into context almost all footballers are Mercs and so in fact is the person sat behind the keyboard (as he left JD Sports for Allsports in 1997) and the person reading his article at the minute for that matter. So, lets all take a moment to see who are the truly world class Mercs and see how many of them play for the team in sky blue.
The List
20. Robinho £10m Manchester City Age 25
20. Robinho £10m Manchester City Age 25
18. Dimitar Berbatov £11m Manchester United Age 27
18. Joe Cole £11m Chelsea Age 27
15. Damien Duff £12m Fulham Age 30
15. Gary Neville £12m Manchester United Age 34
15. Petr Cech £12m Chelsea Age 27
14. Emile Heskey £13m Aston Villa Age 31
11. Ashley Cole £14m Chelsea Age 28
11. Fernando Torres £14m Liverpool Age 25
11. Nicolas Anelka £14m Chelsea Age 31
10. Didier Drogba £16m Chelsea Age 31
9. John Terry £18m Chelsea Age 28
8. Steven Gerrard £20m Liverpool Age 29
7. Frank Lampard £21m Chelsea Age 31
6. Michael Ballack £22m Chelsea Age 33
5. Ryan Giggs £24m Manchester United Age 35
4. Rio Ferdinand £30m Manchester United Age 30
3. Wayne Rooney £37m Manchester United Age 23
2. Michael Owen £38m Manchester United Age 29
1. David Beckham £125m England Age 34 Ex -Rag
18. Joe Cole £11m Chelsea Age 27
15. Damien Duff £12m Fulham Age 30
15. Gary Neville £12m Manchester United Age 34
15. Petr Cech £12m Chelsea Age 27
14. Emile Heskey £13m Aston Villa Age 31
11. Ashley Cole £14m Chelsea Age 28
11. Fernando Torres £14m Liverpool Age 25
11. Nicolas Anelka £14m Chelsea Age 31
10. Didier Drogba £16m Chelsea Age 31
9. John Terry £18m Chelsea Age 28
8. Steven Gerrard £20m Liverpool Age 29
7. Frank Lampard £21m Chelsea Age 31
6. Michael Ballack £22m Chelsea Age 33
5. Ryan Giggs £24m Manchester United Age 35
4. Rio Ferdinand £30m Manchester United Age 30
3. Wayne Rooney £37m Manchester United Age 23
2. Michael Owen £38m Manchester United Age 29
1. David Beckham £125m England Age 34 Ex -Rag
Beckham Tops the Rich list by some way but still shops at H&M -
You know whats shes thinking! According to the latest figures however, City have only 1 player in the Top 20 rich list of footballers- Robinho at number 20. In fact the professional mercenaries are from other teams in the top 4. Of course the fact they have all come from each teams academy and play for the pride of the shirt should override this.
Or maybe not! Lets look at the Top 20 list again. Of the 20 listed Premier League/British players only Mr Chelsea, Mr Liverpool and Mr ... Bury Bumpkin Neville have come up through the ranks.
The others have all been poached form their respective sides (yes Ryan Wilson was on City's books before being poached by the slippery Alex Ferguson) making hypocrites of the highest order out of anyone throwing insults City's way.
Which team has the highest number of Mercenaries.... yes you've guessed it Manchester United have 4 of the Top 5 and the 'Top Dog' David Beckham was of course there as well.
Bury Bumkin Gary Neville at number 15 despite only practicing his Derby goal celebration for the last 5 years
Just to underline the ridiculousness of the scathing attacks on Mark Hughes' charges, City's current squad have at least 10 academy graduates and 5 are first team regulars.
Joe Hart, Micah Richards, Nedum Onouha, Javid Vidal, Steven Ireland, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kierren Trippier, Michael Johnson and David Ball to name but a few are all British and academy graduates and have played in City's squad this year. Hardly a cause for alarm should Nasty Blatter and Slimey Platini get their wicked way.
So before throwing stones perhaps fans of the Big 4 should check if their own houses are made of glass first. Mercenaries or not, City's players have a long way to go before they can emulate these lot.
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