Bogarde – A rare Chelsea Appearance
Name: Winston Bogarde
English Team : Chelsea
Previous: SVV, Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax, AC Milan, Barcelona
After: Retired
Winston Bogarde is arguably the prime example of the greed and everything wrong with the money culture in the Premier League in the early 2000′s.
Before his arrival in London Bogarde had enjoyed an illustrious career overseas. Hailing from Rotterdam in Holland he played for local sides SVV and Sparta Rotterdam before making the step up to giants Ajax in the year 1994, It was during this time that Bogarde received the first of his 20 international caps that allowed him to play in Euro 96 and the World CUp in France 98. Following a brief spell in Milan in 1997 he moved onto European world beaters Barcelona playing 41 games between 1998 and the year 2000.
Bogarde’s arrival came as somewhat of a surprise to then coach Gianluca Vialli. He was signed by a then Football Director on the advice of Chelsea player and compatriot Mario Melchiot who felt that Bogarde still had something to offer. Within weeks of his arrival Vialli had been replaced by Claudio Ranieri who wanted Bogarde of the books as soon as possible. However Bogarde was going nowhere. He had signed a four year deal worth £40,000 a year and he felt that he was entitled to the money and terms that been agreed by the club only a few months previous,
“Why should I throw fifteen million Euro away when it is already mine? At the moment I signed it was in fact my money, my contract.”
He found himself frozen out and training with the reserves for the next for years. His stance never wavered and he happily picked up his forty grand a week without the slightest bit of embarrassment. To be fair, he was right and he was entitled to that money however these days player wants to play but in the case of Bogarde he was more than happy to sit in his London hotel room for the next four years twiddling his thumbs.
In the end Bogarde saw out the rest of his contract, playing the grand total of 9 games in that time. It is estimated he picked up roughly eight million Euros over the course of his time at Chelsea. Once his time expired, he happily retired and moved back to Holland with his family to live off his savings.
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