Fry begs Prem fat cats to help
French star aims to follow in footsteps of Zidane and Ronaldo
BARRY FRY has begged Premier League fat cats to dig deep and stop the “whole of football” collapsing in the fall-out from coronavirus.
Hard on the heels of Huddersfield owner Phil Hodgkinson’s warning that up to 60 clubs could go bust if the sport fails to plan for the impact of Covid-19 beyond this season, Peterborough’s director of football has sounded the alarm again.
Fry (inset), said he is “frustrated, disappointed and amazed” Premier League clubs have not come up with a financial package to help those lower down the pyramid.
Earlier this month, League Two clubs voted unanimously to end their season, while League One clubs are expected to make a decision this week, with a points-per-game formula favourite to determine final positions.
With promotion still a real possibility, Posh are among the sides opposed to voiding the season. But Fry warned clubs will go bust unless Premier League clubs help bail them out.
He told Sky Sports: “I’m very frustrated, disappointed and amazed that the Premier League haven’t come in with the financial package to help all teams in the EFL.
“The reason why most clubs don’t want to play is that testing will cost a fortune and putting on games in empty stadiums will cost a fortune. “That’s why I plead, I beg and I pray the Premier League will come and help us out in some way, shape or form, by donation. “Local clubs are so important – they are the life and soul of their communities, we can’t lose them.
“I cannot understand why the Premier League haven’t done anything about it. If we’re not careful, I can see the whole of football collapsing. Then if the Premier League and the PFA do something about it, it will be too late.”
MEDALS and honours mount up, the figures for future earnings become more outrageous, but Kylian Mbappe is a 21-year-old with history on his mind.
The early end to the French season in April confirmed the formality of a fourth Ligue 1 winners’ medal for Mbappe. His Paris Stgermain side’s priority now is to keep the phenomenon in the capital for many years to come.
That is why there is talk of a new £600,000-a-week contract, even in the Covid-19 era.
But whatever route his career path takes, Mbappe wants it to end with a legacy similar to those left, or being left, by his two idols.
“My first idol was Zinedine Zidane for everything he achieved with the national team,” says Mbappe. “And then it was Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Cristiano has won much and still continues to be a winner even after so much success.
“They have both left their mark in the history of the game and I want to leave my own chapter in the history books.”
To emulate
Zidane and
Ronaldo, more accolades will have to follow for a so striker who spearheaded a World Cup-winning campaign at the age of 19.
Zidane won a Ballon d’or 1998, Ronaldo has won five. Mbappe was ranked seventh in 2017, fourth in the 2018 voting, sixth in last year’s poll and would seem to be a surefire future winner.
“It would be nice to win – but it is not something that keeps me awake at night,” he says. “I don’t think I have to win it next season or the season after. There is no time limit I have put on it.
“Always I will put PSG and the national team as my priority. Then, if personal honours come from my performances, it is a bonus.”
Zidane and Ronaldo can also boast Champions League triumphs as players, something yet to be achieved by Mbappe. Zidane won it with Real Madrid in 2002, Ronaldo won it with Real four times and with Manchester United once.
As he does not turn 22 until December, the absence of success in Europe’s top club competition is hardly a in blot on Mbappe’s CV. He has twice been named French Player of the Year, won the Best Young Player award at the World Cup in 2018, won the league with Monaco as an 18-year-old and has scored 90 goals over three seasons at PSG.
Each one of those campaigns has ended with a title and now Mbappe is desperate for that home dominance to spread into Europe.
“It is a big ambition of mine to win the European Cup,” he said. “And to be a part of PSG winning their first European Cup would be very special.”
The completion of this season’s Champions League is not a certainty and the situation for PSG, one of four teams already qualified for the quarter-finals, is complicated by a professional sports ban in France until September at the earliest.
But it is still a motivation for a player whose potential remains as great as his achievements.
“Always I am looking improve,” he insists.
“I play with so many experienced players for both PSG and the national team that I am always looking to learn from them and improve.
“One of my ambitions is to keep on being successful with the national team.
“Next season we have the European Championship and that will be our ambition to be victorious there.”
For Mbappe, wherever his club career takes him and no matter how many honours he can already list, you suspect the journey is only beginning. to
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