Every now and then in football, you have to say goodbye to a big player at your club when he heads off for pastures new. This SBOTOPwriter, an unashamed Burnley fan, was a little misty-eyed when club legend Ben Mee was released from the Turf Moor club.
Mee has moved back to the Premier League with Thomas Frank’s Brentford and everyone in East Lancashire wishes our former skipper well. We miss him, yes we do, but it’s hard to say how he would fit into the new look Burnley, the ‘Championship’s Manchester City’ under the tutelage of new head coach Vincent Kompany.
But enough of all this self-indulgence for me and fellow Clarets; let’s take a look elsewhere, where some players who have left their clubs this summer seem to have left their former team in a bit of a hole, while they enjoy life in their new homes. And I’m taking a glance at three huge names who have left their long-time clubs with a feeling of loss.
Antonio Rudiger: Chelsea to Real Madrid
The Blues have said goodbye to defender Antonio Rudiger and striker Timo Werner who left Stamford Bridge to go to Real Madrid and RB Leipzig, two teams set to meet in this week’s Champions League fixtures.
The transfer of Werner was no real surprise after he struggled to make an impression in the English league and it is probably a good move for both player and club. But the Blues were keen to keep hold of centre-back Rudiger, who refused to sign an extension to his contract and set his sights on a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Los Blancos have started well in La Liga, with five wins from their first five games and Rudiger has already become a key player at the club in defence, especially since the injury to Brazilian centre-back Eder Militao. He also got on the score sheet in Los Blancos’ 4-1 win over Mallorca at the weekend.
Meanwhile, with three wins, a draw and two defeats, Chelsea sit outside the Premier League top four and have just potted their manager Thomas Tuchel after a Champions League home defeat to Dynamo Zagreb. And the Blues have also lost to Leeds United and Southampton, conceding five goals in the process. Chelsea fans would like to see Rudiger in their side when they face Liverpool at the weekend.
Before he left, Tuchel signed Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli and Wesley Fofana from Leicester City, one of whom may make an eventual replacement for Rudiger but, right now, the Blues are over £100m light in their bank balance.
Robert Lewandowski: FC Bayern to Barcelona
Bayern Munich without Lewandowski is like the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger. But the Bavarian legend has left Munich to play for Barcelona, a move which dominated the football 2022 newsthroughout the summer. And the lethal Pole is loving it in Catalonia, scoring six goals in five games to lead the race for the Spanish Golden Boot, and scoring a hat-trick in the Blaugrana’s 5-1 Champions League destruction of Viktoria Plzen.
After six games the Bundesliga table looks just fine for Bayern as they sit comfortably in third place with three wins and three draws. But imagine how it would look with three more points. Of course the football 2022 betting odds say Bayern are the team to beat again this year but the likes of Borussia Dortmund will believe they have a better chance now that Lewandowski is out of the picture.
Sadio Mane: Liverpool to FC Bayern
There was a knock-on effect from the departure of Lewandowski to Catalonia as it meant FC Bayern recruited Liverpool’s Senegalese star Sadio Mane to take his place. It feels like the end of an era at Anfield as Mane made up the most exciting front three in world football, alongside Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, who excited fans and terrified defences in equal measure as they stormed to the Champions League crown in 2019 and the Premier League title in 2020.
The arrival last year of Luis Diaz and the summer signing of Darwin Nunez alongside the ever-improving Diogo Jota means the Reds have plenty of firepower, but Liverpool’s stuttering start, with just two wins from their opening six games leaves them in seventh place and, with Manchester City looking in imposing form, it’s difficult to see how Jurgen Klopp can mastermind another successful title charge.
Mane’s old mate Mo Salah seems to be missing him the most and has only scored twice so far this term while Firmino’s deft touches don’t look quite so clever without the Senegalese star to pick them up.
The Fab Three has been disbanded.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
