Chelsea striker Diego Costa is the Premier League’s leading scorer, tied with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexis Sanchez. He’s one of the Blues most valuable players this season, but he was dropped over the weekend in the match against Leicester City due to a row he’s having with coaches and management.
The source of the discord is an out of this world financial offer Costa received from the Chinese Super League.
In the wake of these developments, Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte is urging his players to look at values beyond salaries.
“The money is not everything,” Conte told reporters this weekend. “When you play for a great team like Chelsea, you must be pleased.”
Chelsea has already seen John Obi-Mikel and Oscar move on to China, and fear Costa will as well, if the situation is not resolved.
In terms of what non-monetary appeal there is to staying in the Premier League, beyond just the fame and glory, it’s the spirit of competition. The Barclay’s Premier League is more balanced and competitive.
Having so many bonafide contenders is a big reason why the EPL is so entertaining, and thus wildly successful.
This is a big reason why the British top flight is more popular, and hence gets bigger television numbers and broadcasting rights contracts than the other elite leagues in Europe. The German Bundesliga has been monopolized by Bayern Munich lately, French Ligue 1 dominated by Paris Saint-Germain and Italy’s Serie A ruled by Juventus.
Take a look at the list of the last four Premier League champions, and you’ll see a different side in each season:
2012-13 Manchester United, 2013-14 Manchester City, 2014-15 Chelsea, 2015-16 Leicester City.
In fact you have to go all the way back to 2009, to even see a repeat champion:
2011-12 Man City, 2010-11 Man United, 2009-10 Chelsea, 2008-09 Man United, 2007-08 Man United.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, Bold and the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication, appears regularly as a guest on CGTN America, WGN CLTV News and KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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