No contest, Diego
All the tea in China will not quench thirst for title glory
IT TURNS out the China conundrum threatening a Premier League talent drain can be snuffed out in one moment of Teutonic reasoning.
Michael Ballack secured one of the most lucrative Bosman transfers of his generation when he joined Chelsea for a reported £130,000-a-week after Bayern Munich allowed his contract to run down in 2006.
And while that is small change compared to the £600,000-a-week figure being bandied about in the speculation surrounding Diego Costa’s proposed move to China, the maths actually remain transparently straightforward once you get past the initial wow factor.
“First I have to congratulate him – I never got an offer like this,” is Ballack’s first reaction.
“I got good money but it seems to be another level since the guys from China disturbed the market a bit, and the brains of the players.
“You love what you do but it’s still a job and you are limited in time earning money and you think about that if someone makes you a crazy offer.
“But hopefully we can come back a bit to normal days and players will remember they are in the best league in the world.
“If you are on a high salary and earning money you normally can’t spend in your lifetime, where you play, what level you play, the audience, it’s something you should really think about.
“Football in Europe is of course No1 and that is what everyone watches because the best players in the world compete in this area.
“Everyone should be calm. It is a bit disturbing but I don’t think it will affect the structure of the Premier League.”
But then a sense of competition is what has always driven Ballack.
Two more injury-plagued years back at Bayer Leverkusen after his 2010 departure from Chelsea were enough for him to call it quits, despite lucrative offers.
“I can say I stopped early at 35,” he said. “I was always very competitive and always wanted to play at the highest level, which means the Champions League.
“Of course I could have carried on two or three more years and I had offers from Australia and America but I feel a bit frustrated if I play in a lower league.
“I decided if I can’t do it in Europe anymore, in Germany or the Premier League or the Champions League, I stop.”
He has not hung up his boots completely, still featuring in the odd local kick-around.
This summer, though, Ballack will again be pulling on his Germany shirt and donning the armband – as part of the inaugural Star Sixes competition at the O2, which starts on July 13 and features iconic six-a-side teams from 12 of the top countries in the world.
He is looking forward to locking horns with his peers a good deal more than hacking around with lesser opponents.
“If you reach a certain age, and you are not as quick as before, sometimes you get an amateur who has never played at that level who wants to show something with a foul,” he winces.
“You think, ‘Why are you doing that?’ But it’s a normal process.”
Ballack keeps up with events at Stamford Bridge.
“I had a great four years there and that’s why I try to watch a lot of their games. The atmosphere in the stadium, in the city – you don’t get that often in other cities.
“I know Chelsea, the Fulham Road, King’s Road, the area – I still have friends there and when I come to London I enjoy spending time there. It’s fun.
“And to walk sometimes is quicker. You can’t even get there quicker by taxi.”
Not for all the money in China, he might have added.
Tickets for the first-ever Star Sixes tournament will go on sale on Friday (January 27) at 9am at www.theo2.co.uk/starsixes Follow: @starsixes