5 footballers who chose money over their career

#3 Emmanuel Adebayor

Manchester City v Arsenal - Premier League

Under the tutelage of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Emmanuel Adebayor used to be a scary prospect. Tall, strong, fast and possessing commendable ability on the ball, the Togolese footballer was very hard to mark.

These attributes helped him score 30 goals in 48 games across all competitions in the 2007-08 season and become a fan favourite

However, things took a turn for the worse with the Arab takeover of Manchester City. Adebayor was one of those players who deserted the ship as soon as possible when City decided to double his wages.

After scoring for Manchester City in a 4-2 win against Arsenal, Adebayor even ran the entire length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the traveling fans.

In a cruel tale of irony, he never won a trophy while playing for Manchester City and his career never lived up to high expectations. The striker had to constantly switch clubs between Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, Crystal Palace and Istanbul Basaksehir, among others.

#2 Oscar

As a young footballer bursting on to the scene with Internacional and later with Chelsea, Oscar was tipped for greatness. His creativity, silky technique on the ball, passing abilities and eye for goal earned him comparisons with fellow Brazilian playmaker Kaka.

Along with Neymar and Lucas Moura, he was regarded as one of the hottest prospects emerging out of the football-crazy nation.

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Oscar spent four seasons in England with Chelsea, making 131 appearances. He helped the Blues win the Premier League twice and even won the UEFA Europa League in 2012-13. Oscar also appeared for the Brazilian national team 48 times between 2011 and 2016.

His career soon faded into oblivion when he decided to join Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG in 2017. The Chinese club broke the Asian transfer record with a £60 million offer for the Brazilian midfielder.

Only 28 back then and in the prime of his career, Oscar had offers from Atletico Madrid and clubs in Italy. Speaking about his move, Oscar stated:

“Every football player, or every person who works, wants to earn money to help their families. I came from a social background in Brazil that is very poor.

"We didn’t have anything. This is the fruit of my work and when I earn this, it is because I conquered it. The same way I came here, I will be able to return to Europe. Whatever decision I make, somebody will talk good or bad about it."

#1 Alex Song

Despite joining Arsenal in 2005, it was only in 2008 when Alex Song attained a breakthrough in his career. Since then, he featured prominently in Arsene Wenger’s plans and had become an instrumental part of the team.

Song was responsible for doing the dirty work in the middle of the park and this allowed the likes of Fabregas and Nasri to focus on their creative duties.

However, Song gave up on a promising career when Barcelona offered to double his wages in 2012. Despite knowing that in the presence of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Fabregas and Keita, he wouldn’t get much playing time, Song decided to make the move.

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He went on to appear in just 39 games for Barcelona and soon became the subject of serial transfers. Following spells at West Ham and Rubin Kazan, Alex Song disappeared from the public eye and his career never recovered. He was quoted as saying:

"When Barcelona offered me a contract, and I saw how much I would earn, I didn't think twice. I felt my wife and children should have comfortable lives once my career is over.

"I met Barca's sporting director, and he told me I would not get to play many games. But I didn't give a f*** - I knew that now I would become a millionaire,” Song later admitted his mistake of prioritizing money over his football career."

At 34, he now finds himself playing for Arta Solar 7 in Djibouti.