Fab wants to go. I say, let him

Fabricio Coloccini has told Newcastle United that he wants to leave.  The defender has been at the club since 2008 and has become highly respected within the club and throughout the Premier League.  He became club captain last year and was named in the PFA team of the year last season. 

But he is clearly no longer happy at the club and he is not the first player to feel like this nor will he be the last.  Coloccini has sited “personal reasons” for his desire to leave and I’m not going to wildly speculate about these reasons.  They are his and they are personal.    I also don’t think that this is about agitating for a move to a bigger or better club, he clearly just wants to go home.

Many people think that because you have a “dream” job life is easy and all is well.  You’re getting paid a fortune to do something that we all love so what is wrong with you?  Well I don’t think it’s that simple.  It will definitely be a shame if he leaves the Premier League and if he was so unhappy why sign a five year contract extension?  But players need to take care of what is important to them because, unfortunately, far too many of them end up burnt out and washed up.

If this move makes Coloccini happier then Premier League football can go hang.  The constant (and understandable) push, push, push by fans and clubs can take a serious toll on people and the cost can sometimes be too high.  Money can’t buy you everything.

Peter Stickney

Follow @peterstickney

Comments

[Mike]

All very well and good saying this, but when the club that he wants to go to can't afford to pay anything for a £10m player something has to give. As you mention in your article, he signed a 5 year contract just 10 months ago and has a pretty high market value.

I don't see any solution to this in January. Perhaps in the summer, if the problems are still there, a solution can be found (maybe a move to another argentinian side who can afford to pay a decent transfer fee for him) but until then I think he stays and possibly has a few weeks leave to go home.