Hypocrisy of English players to the extent that we basically ruin their careers has become the norm in recent decades.
It is not that we want them to be bad players, but more the fact that we are so desperate for them to flourish and excel with the national team that we just end up in front of ourselves and crush them below the weight of expectation.
Like Lennie in Of Mice and Men, if anything we love them too much, Clive …
England’s Ben White is set to leave Brighton / Pool / Getty Images
However, it’s not just us fans, Premier League clubs are equally involved in the issue, with sides desperately wanting to hand out eye – watering sums of money to English players in the hope that they will be the next Rio, Rooney or Stevie G.
Given Arsenal’s sometimes haphazard defense, it came as no real surprise to hear Mikel Arteta seek a deal for Brighton’s Ben White earlier this summer, but the news that the Gunners are ready to spread £ 50m in midfield is quite worrying.
A number of English midfielders have had their careers stunned, blunted and ruined by mega-money – most of them are in fact competent defenders who have just been ruined by their price tag.
90min has been watching the signings that prove that White’s move to Arsenal is a terrible idea …
Alfie Mawson’s career has not really gone according to plan / Visionhaus / Getty Images
Remember him?
After spending the early part of his career in the lower leagues, Alfie Mawson transferred to the Premier League team Swansea where he gave a decent account of himself during his two years at the club.
Notice the use of the word “decent”? Not “brilliant” or “outstanding”, just decent. So, of course, the next step in his career was to secure a £ 20m move to Fulham. Twenty. Million.
Obviously he is not a £ 20m footballer and within two years he was considered to be in excess of the demands on the Cottagers and spent last season on loan at Champions League side Bristol City.
Michael Keane moved to Everton saw them pay as much as £ 30 million / Marc Atkins / Getty Images
Say what you think of Michael Keane, he was nowhere near the level needed to be classified as a £ 30m footballer in 2017 when he moved from Burnley to Weird Transfer Kings Everton.
The former Burnley man performed well during his time with the Clarets, but if Ben Mee and James Tarkowski have taught us anything, it is that Sean Dyche can make decent midfielders look like world strikers.
Keane has been average at best since his big money move to Goodison Park, but Toffees seems determined to keep playing him in an attempt to prove they were entitled to hand out such a monumental sum of money.
Calum Chambers has failed to cement his place in the Arsenal team / Visionhaus / Getty Images
Oh Arsenal, have you not learned your lesson yet?
Calum Chambers saw a real top prospect when he came out of the Southampton academy eight years ago, and with just 22 Premier League appearances to his name, the Gunners shot out £ 16 million for his services.
Since then, his career has gone absolutely nowhere, with various loan spells proving to be little more than a short break before returning to his Arsenal hell.
The Gunners seem to intend to spare him at right-back, but his temporary moves to Middlesbrough and Fulham have shown that he is better suited for a role at center-back.
The move with big money to Arsenal came clearly too early and at 26 years old he already looks like he is destined to be a player who ruined a promising start to his career.
Phil Jones has never managed to fulfill the potential that brought him to Old Trafford / Gareth Copley / Getty Images
Sir Alex Ferguson really claimed that Phil Jones could become Manchester United’s greatest player ever. No press buddy.
A £ 16.5m signing from Blackburn at the age of 19, Jones began by slowly easing into the United squad, but it wasn’t long before he was clearly little more than a reserve option.
He may have turned into a mockery in recent years, but at Blackburn he really showed signs of promise, but still a massive move to probably the biggest club in the world when a teenager was still, in retrospect, not right.
Ben Gibson hopes to get his career back / George Wood / Getty Images
Do you know the part where we said about how Dyche can make decent midfielders world beaters? Yes, that does not apply here.
Ben Gibson ran onto the stage with Middlesbrough back in 2013 and although he was guaranteed first team football in his hometown club, he chose the strong lights in the Premier League with, erm, Burnley.
The £ 15m move went horribly wrong, with Gibson going from a hopeful England to a player who managed just one Premier League appearance in three years.
Admittedly, the competition for places was probably more of a factor than the price tag, but in one of his first trips to the Clarets, he saw a shadow of the player he was at Boro when he was sent off against Olympiacos in the Europa League and was pretty much never in a Burnley. sweater again.
Jonathan Woodgate endured one of the worst debuts of all time at Real Madrid / Denis Doyle / Getty Images
Jonathan Woodgate played for some huge clubs in his career, he also represented England and scored the winning goal in a cup final for Tottenham, but he will always be remembered as the guy who had that debut.
After impressing during his 18-month stay at Newcastle, Woodgate earned a £ 13.4m bumper to La Liga giants Real Madrid in 2004.
Getting a good start is absolutely necessary for all players who want to settle in a new club, but it is even more important when you have moved to such a high fee to a club the size of Real – Woodgate did not get off to a good start.
After producing a fantastic diving head to score his first own goal for the club in his maiden voyage to Athletic, he was later sent off for a second bookable offense when he rounded off possibly the worst debut in football history.
No one ever doubted his talent, but it was clear that the press had gotten him after his big move to Real (plus, you know, all the injuries) and with just nine La Liga appearances to his name, he left to join Middlesbrough .
