Fair play? The beautiful game belongs to the accountants now

Football’s big-money era has led to a loss of competition on the pitch. (Image: Depositphotos)

Sun, 11 Feb 2024

By Matthew Brooker “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end, the Germans always win,” the former England striker Gary Lineker once observed in a rueful comment on Teutonic supremacy in the 1990s. An updated version might read: Football is a very complicated game, and at the end, the accountants win.Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher was the focus of widespread media speculation in the run-up to this month's Premier League transfer window deadline, with multiple reports sugg...

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