With the first anniversary of the Wayne Rooney saga on the horizon was it really conceivable that the boy from Croxteth really could have ended up plying his trade away from these shores?
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| Culture vulture: Rooney's refuelling away from the pitch |
"Una mas cerveza y uno vino tinto, por favor," he uttered to the bar person, according to the Guardian back in 2003.
This was not an expert linguist flexing his oral muscles but a footballer. A Scouser, no less.
Steve McManaman moved to Real Madrid and acclimatised well and, though not fluent, managed to reach a decent level in Spanish.
McManaman was the first British player to win the Champions League twice, both with Real, and, according to much of the mass media a few months ago, Wayne Rooney was destined to follow in the footsteps of his fellow Liverpudlian by making the bold move to La Liga.
The Manchester United striker was linked with a record-breaking transfer to Barcelona. This rumour followed Christiano Ronaldo's plea in the Sun to "come and join me" at Real Madrid just one year before.
So, was the England international really set to make the ambitious move abroad? Could you really have imagined him lapping up the delicacies that another European country has to offer?
Some may have found this hard to believe. They are more accustomed to seeing Rooney as a typical English tourist in the Catalan capital, wandering down La Rambla wearing a vest and shorts, donning a lobster coloured tan, rather than enjoying the local tapas and learning the language.
If he had made the move he would not have been the first to do so. That accolade belongs to Herbert Kilpin, who played for FC Torinese in 1891, then for Mediolanum Milano from 1898 to 1900 and Milan from 1900-07.
Kilpin's defining moment, though, came in a wine shop in Tuscany at the end of the 19th century when, along with two friends, he founded the Milan Cricket and Football club. They have since taken on the more familiar guise of AC Milan and they have the English flag of Saint George in the club emblem.
Paul Gascoigne, to whom Rooney is so often compared due to having the same innate ability aligned with a natural tendency to court off the field controversies, did make the move abroad and he enjoyed a modicum of success, the highlight being when he scored the winner for Lazio in the Rome derby.
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| Gazza-tta dello Sport: James Richardson speaks fondly of Gazza |
Gazza, as he was affectionately known, was something of a phenomenon to the Italian public. James Richardson, who presented Football Italia on Channel 4 throughout the 1990s, explains: "The Gazza thing was extraordinary. He was even talked about in parliament. It was like an alien had arrived on earth. He was a completely different kind of person to what they (the Italians) were used to. Maybe because he was more the image they had of a football supporter, yet he was a player, and I think that was why he was so popular with the supporters."
And it was not just fans of the club he played for that loved him. "I remember being in his car in Rome," Richardson continued. "And fans on scooters were banging on the window saying 'Hey Gazza, hey Gazza' and they were Roma fans. For Roma fans to salute a Lazio player just doesn't happen."
Richardson, who now presents the Football Weekly podcast for the Guardian, was keen to emphasise that Gascoigne had a good time in the Italian capital. He said: "I think he enjoyed himself. It was a very mad lifestyle that he had because of his celebrity, because he was who he was - a bit of a fish out of water in some ways. He made a lot of friends, though."
Italian friends? "Yes, some at the club and his minder, Gianni. People were quite loyal to him because he's a guy who inspires a lot of loyalty and sympathy because he's a very warm, open guy. At the time we thought 'ok, he's not the most practical but that's why we love him'."
Richardson got on well with the ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United midfielder. "I used to film with him on a Thursday and sometimes we would go out afterwards."
Gazza was surprisingly cultured and the bilingual journalist was taken aback. Richardson added: "I remember the first time I heard him speak Italian. I was shocked. He eschewed things like grammar but his vocabulary was quite good."
There are on the field differences between Italian and British football that not every ex-pat can get used to. Richardson illustrates perfectly the difference in footballing ethos between the two countries when he told an interesting anecdote regarding an un-named British export to the peninsular. He said: "There was one player who played a game in the south of Italy and he was astonished when, before the game kicked off, everyone agreed, including the opponents, that a draw would be the result of the game. The opposing captain came in to the dressing room, prior to kick off, to confirm that it was ok (a draw) and everyone agreed, except said footballer who said he wanted to play for the win. 45 minutes later he was substituted due to his ambitious play, i.e. overlapping a winger and taking players on."
John Charles proved to be the perfect export where he plundered goal after goal for Juventus in the sixties, assisting the Turin-based club to three Serie A titles.
When asked who he believed made the biggest impact Richardson said: "Paul Ince and David Platt were two that really stood out."
Platt is not a surprise to be amongst Richardson's choices given that he played for three different clubs - Bari, Juventus and Sampdoria - throughout the nineties, scoring goals aplenty from midfield. In addition, he accumulated a whopping £17.4m worth of transfer fees whilst in Italy and he managed to learn the language which.
Plumping for Ince is somewhat more of a surprise given that, prior to moving from Manchester United to Inter Milan for £7 million, the move appeared risky on the Italian outfit's part due to Ince's combative nature, combined with the strict, no-nonsense refereeing on the peninsular.
However, Ince adapted well but, of course, it has not always been plain sailing for our footballers abroad. Take Darius Vassell's plight when moving to Turkish outfit Ankaragucu in 2009. Around 3,000 fans greeted his arrival by dancing and singing at the capital city's airport.
Things soon turned sour for the former Manchester City forward when the club encountered financial difficulties. Subsequently, the Ankara based club were unable to foot the bill for the player's hotel. However, it is not known if Vassell was consigned to the streets or not.
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| Beanz Meanz Heinz: Ian Rush refutes suggestions he had baked beans shipped out to him in Turin |
Ian Rush had his problems on the field following a multi-million pound move to Italian side Juventus in the mid-eighties. The move proved unsuccessful for the Welshman as he failed to find the back of the net as frequently as he had done for Liverpool. Rush allegedly complained that his Italian experience was "like living in a foreign country".
Rush denies ever making that comment, though. He said: "People who say that I said that are lying. It was Kenny Dalglish who said that when he was asked by the press what it was like for me in Italy. Kenny was joking and the press twisted it as if it was me."
It has been reported that the former Welsh international striker had baked beans shipped out to him as he went in search of home comforts but he says that could not be further from the truth. "One of the things I liked most was the food in Italy. It was fantastic."
So where did it all go wrong? "I didn’t like the style of play. It didn’t suit me. The football was very negative compared to what I was used to at Liverpool. It’s only when you leave a club like Liverpool you realise the grass is not always greener."
David Platt, who James Richardson spoke highly of, had a very different experience to Rush during his time in Italy. Platt succeeded where many of his British predecessors failed — he managed to learn the language. This would appear to be a crucial aspect to any footballer’s life when living abroad.
Gary Lineker sampled life in Spain with Barcelona and then Japan with Nagoya Grampus Eight. He felt it was imperative to learn the lingo.
Lineker told the website cilt.org.uk: "My wife and I learnt Spanish and Japanese when I played at Barcelona and Nagoya. We spent hours and hours in tuition – yet we could have learnt either language at school. Modern languages prepare you for modern life."
The Match of the Day presenter added: "I've really enjoyed learning Spanish and Japanese. Getting to grips with a new language can be great fun and you learn so much about other people and what makes them tick. Immersing yourself in the culture is critical to making it work abroad."
Former Scotland manager, Craig Brown, was in agreement. He oversaw the international careers of Paul Lambert, who enjoyed Champions League success with Borussia Dortmund, and John Collins, who starred for Monaco.
Brown said to the same website: "Paul Lambert and John Collins learned the required German and French languages very quickly. As a consequence, their children are bilingual and the players settled easily into their environments."
Germany appears to be a happy hunting ground for our footballers as Lambert (Dortmund), Tony Woodcock (FC Cologne and Fortuna Cologne) and Kevin Keegan (SV Hamburg) have illustrated.
Claus Melchior, co-founder of German fanzine Der Toedliche Pass, enthused: "Lambert was quite popular and is still revered in Dortmund, I believe."
And he offered an interesting side effect of Keegan’s three years at SV Hamburg: "Kevin is also still a very popular first name and I think Keegan started that trend."
Then there is the case of David Beckham, who moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United in the summer of 2003.
Arguably England’s most famous footballer ever, ‘Becks’ endured mixed fortunes during his spells with Real Madrid, LA Galaxy and AC Milan but, whilst in Spain, ‘Los Madridistas’ were appreciative of his efforts as he helped them win La Liga in his final year at the club.
Having Real and AC on your CV is an admirable achievement no matter who you are.
Whether Rooney will join this select band of footballers who ply their trade on the continent is unlikely but what is apparent is that if you make the effort to familiarise yourself with your surroundings, you can definitely reap the benefits and improve as a footballer. Perhaps England, as well as Rooney, would prosper from such a career move.
