Oliver Brown Why loyalty is now such a priceless commodity
Aubameyang and Grealish signing new deals reaffirms for fans clubs’ abilities to get through uncertain times
Evidently, Arsenal’s deep p and doleful job losses have not blunted the club’s gift for going viral. al. Never mind that PierreEmerick Aubameyang’s three-year contract extension n had been trailed for a month: his commitment to the cause this week drew a level of hyperbolic build-up normally y reserved only for Tim Cook’s iphone launches. As the website teased a live feed of an n egg-timer, pen and paper, it added a captain’s armband and d a Black Panther mask before bringing final confirmation from the man himself.
Even as football’s longest summer gives way to a potentially nuclear winter, there is little false modesty on n the marketing front.
It seems to be the same everywhere. No sooner did the e enigmatic Ricardo Quaresma herald his arrival at Vitoria de Guimaraes with a video of a horse, a Ford Mustang and a map of Hogwarts than Istanbul ul Basaksehir, the project of Turkey’s president Erdogan, paraded their signing of Rafael l da Silva trussed up as a Teenage ge Mutant Ninja Turtle. It was quite the fanfare, all told, for a largely forgotten Manchester United right-back last spotted on the bench at Lyon.
How reassuring, then, to discover that Jack Grealish still ill prefers the old-fashioned approach, unveiling his five-year deal at Aston Villa with a standard-issue, pens-at- tthe-ready photograph alongside the chief executive. And yet, for all the contrasts in presentation styles, there is one crucial parallel between his announcementcement announcement and that of Aubameyang, with both players ultimately dec deciding ciding that their future is best se served rved by staying loyal.
For weeks, Aubame Aubameyang eyang had been the subject of morem more overtures than a Rossini opera. Would it be Barcelona who prised d him away, or Inter Milan? ? Instead, two trophies s in 30 days under Mikel Art Arteta teta convinced him to rem remain, main, a moment of genuine e rapture for Ian
Wright, filmed indulging in plenty of “You’re the legend now” badinage with his successor as Arsenal’s centre-forward.
It was a similar story for Grealish, who looked imploringly for an approach from Old Trafford, only for manager Dean Smith to work his persuasive magic over drinks as they toasted Villa’s Premier League survival. There are several ways of analysing this latest trend of club superstars realising that the grass is not always greener elsewhere. Once, the temptation would be to rebuke them for a lack of ambition, to ask what Grealish expects to win at Villa by 2025 when he could have held out for a switch to the top six. Fashions have evolved, though. In 2020, there is wisdom in clubs and players learning to value what they already have. True, Aubameyang was tempted by the blandishments of Barcelona, but Philippe Coutinho had shown how quickly you could turn from Premier League prodigy into Nou Camp pariah. At Arsenal, there is no such ambiguity, in that every facet of the club’s strategy for the next three seasons will coalesce around him.
The economics of the ararrangement arrangement deserve some scrutiny. Aubameyang is being paid £250,000 a week: a steal, perhaps, when team-mate Mesut Ozil receives more just to sit in the stands, but still a huge outlay given the prospect of his reduced resale value at 34. This cannot, however, be perceived solely as a monetary transaction. In their Gabonese striker, Arsenal have what they have so long lacked: an icon, a hero, a proven inspiration in major finals and a worthy heir to Thierry Henry’s No 14 shirt.
The alternative did not bear thinking about for Arsenal fans. In the past 15 years, they have dared to invest hope and affection in Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Alexis Sanchez, Samir Nasri, Ashley Cole, only for every one of them to leave once the price was right. In Aubameyang, they have a figure who has reciprocated their trust.
Such a gesture matters all the more in what could soon be a post-apocalyptic wilderness for the game. The longer supporters are shut out of stadiums, the more uncertainty breeds. Arsenal have been far from immune, shedding 55 jobs due to the pandemic. Aubameyang’s signature restores a
Arsenal have an icon, a hero, an inspiration in major finals
When everything else is in flux, there is a premium on creating a feeling of permanence
sense se of equilibrium, offering a statement sta of faith in the club’s strength str in a post- Covid world.
Grealish, in his own parish, is pr producing the same effect, pr providing Villa fans with cause for op optimism when all other ce certainties are crumbling. The po power of his connection to a club th that he has served since the age of six gives supporters a chance to ca catch a glimpse of themselves in Vi Villa Park, even when they cannot be physically present.
Spurs’ move for Gareth Bale may ye yet generate the same electricity. Fo Forget that he has not appeared in clu club colours for over seven years: hi his mere presence, coupled with all th the shirts he can shift, promises to de deliver a shot of pure back-wherehe he-belongs nostalgia.
Such is the existential angst tri triggered by Covid that even the gr greatest clubs are grappling with qu questions of identity. You can see it in the shirt designs: Everton have un unfurled an amber away strip re redolent of the days of Alan Ball, Manchester City have gone with a jagged ag patterning that, according to the PR spiel, represents a “nod to the city’s Northern Quarter m mosaics”. When everything else is in flux, there is a premium on cr creating a feeling of permanence.
It is a message that has clearly filtered through to the players. Where once they would scarcely th think twice about bouncing the hi highest bidders off against each ot other, they recognise today that th the most potent weapon in their ar armoury is their loyalty.