Sign Him Up! The Silly Football Transfer Season Has Started

Pangeran Siahaan

He’s certainly a basketball superstar, but is LeBron James someone worthy to be a role model? If he’s not, then some people want to tap Eden Hazard with a sledgehammer for his ongoing attempt to emulate LeBron’s PR stunt-turned-disaster that’s known as The Decision. It was when LeBron kept the world guessing where he would move to from Cleveland until the final day when he went on national TV to tell that he’s going to take his talent to Miami. He could have done it in a slightly more discreet manner with less fireworks, but in the end it’s all an ego trip.

As one of the most-sought players in Europe, the Belgian midfielder Hazard doesn’t seem like he’s planning to go live on camera to tell his next destination but his riddle games with the press is like his own version of LeBron’s antics or we shall call it, La Décision. Often linked to Manchester United in the past year, a couple of weeks ago he told the press that he’s going to wear blue next season, hinting a possible move to the other side of Manchester. His color hint suggested that Chelsea also has the chance to seize him, but, echoing LeBron’s attitude, he came again and frustrated everybody by telling that he hasn’t made any decision yet.
 
There’s also a possibility of the fans of his current club, Lille, being hurt by his disgraceful attitude as if they’re not there all, what was on Hazard’s mind must be something like, “I’ve given you the league title two seasons ago, now I shall bid farewell and move to a bigger club. You want an encore? OK”. Hazard scored a hat-trick against Nancy in his last game for Lille which makes his record last season stands 20 goals and 15 assists. Skills and attitude. LeBronesque.

Hazard is not the only player that attracts the attention of major European clubs. Robin van Persie, who almost single-handedly performed a Herculean task to drag Arsenal to Champions League spot last season is also on the spotlight. The Dutch striker has 1 year left on his contract and Arsenal needs him to sign a new paper deal or the club might be tempted to sell him to potential suitors. Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester City are said to be interested in signing him, but aren’t they always interested in signing everybody? The Italian champions, Juventus has been tiptoeing around Van Persie since last season although it would take such an effort for La Vecchia Signora to outbid Barcelona and others.

Having won Bundesliga for the second consecutive season, Borussia Dortmund must be uncomfortable with all the eyes on their players. The brilliant Japanese playmaker, Shinji  Kagawa is almost certain to leave the club although where he will drop his anchor is yet to be revealed. Sir Alex Ferguson attended the DFB Pokal match where Kagawa scored a goal and delivered a couple of assists to crush Bayern Munich, hence all the rumors about him moving to Old Trafford, but it’s not a done deal. Chelsea may be interested to steal Kagawa under Ferguson’s nose just like what they did on Arjen Robben and John Obi Mikel. Dortmund is not reluctant to let Kagawa go because they already signed another bright talent, Marco Reus from Borussia Monchengladbach, but they will hold tight to Polish striker Robert Lewandowski whose speed and goal-instinct also attracted a lot of clubs.

The more interesting transfer possibilities are on some players who can move from their current clubs because they have a reason to go. Wesley Sneijder, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez, Diego Milito, to name a few, are not going to play Champions League football next season and it’s intriguing that the chance of playing in the top continental competition might lure them away from their current clubs.

There are also some players who may get suitors because they’ve been brilliant last season. Atletico Madrid’s Radamel Falcao has cemented his name as one of Europe’s top marksmen and his agent must be busy answering phone all days. Also Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente who can get his price tag rise even higher with a decent performance in the Euro as well as his team-mate, Iker Muniain who’s been dubbed as the next best thing from Spain.

Some other potential movers are those who fall from grace in his current club. This list includes Kaka in Real Madrid and Dimitar Berbatov in Manchester United who are down in pecking order in their respective clubs. Such a waste and rather sad to see two gifted players only make it as far as the bench each game.

And of course there’s regular news comes the transfer window about where will the Santos duo, Neymar and Ganso kick the balls next season with, here we go again, Barcelona and Real Madrid as the usual suspects.