It’s a sad state of affairs when a player’s budding career is brought to a screeching halt due to contract renewal negotiations held in bad faith between him, his agent and the club.
We have, over the years, seen players’ careers scuppered by contract negotiations involving the middleman (read agent) believing they are always on the right and are fighting in the best interest of the player.
A case in point is Kaizer Chiefs defender Njabulo Blom’s dicey situation in which his Spain-based agent, Rob Moore, feels Amakhosi are out to short-change Blom as he is on the verge of signing a new contract with the Soweto giants.
Moore’s motives are realistically not clear, but I’m certain he is hell-bent on getting the maximum value for the 22-year-old versatile defender and himself, as he is entitled to a cut in the revised deal.
But Moore must also realise contracts and financial negotiations are often guided by a give-and-take scenario, whereby the parties involved must reach consensus solely for the benefit of the player and the blossoming of his career.
The negotiations have stalled, the prospective deal is in limbo and the player has been sidelined, culminating in him not being featured in the team’s last matches.
An unfortunate situation.
Agents are well aware, the more the deal is lucrative, the more they benefit in terms of the percentage cut due to them.
So, Moore believes Chiefs is out to short-change, and most significantly, screw Blom by negotiating in bad faith and not offering him what he is worth.
The crux of the matter is that both parties, the club and the agent, are accusing one another of being unreasonable. So where does the blame lie?
Moore has been widely reported as being confident he is on the right path, and the club is wrong, because he has the figures of players’ salaries at Chiefs, and made his comparisons, revealing a disturbing situation that Blom earns less than some of the inactive players.
But who sets the bar to determine what players are worth?
Transfermarkt.co.za puts a price tag of €625000, a whopping R10 789283 in international market value for Blom, and Moore retorts the Glamour Boys management is inconsiderate by offering Blom a salary 50% less than some of the less valuable players. Nonsense, Chiefs responds, declaring they hold the player from their development ranks in high esteem. He is their product; they have nurtured his footballing career to where it is today and can ill-afford to see his talent go to waste.
In all the wrangling, Blom’s playing career is suffering and if an amicable solution is not found soon – this contract saga could spell the end of the road for him.
We have seen players’ careers cut short after refusing to sign new contracts. Some refuse being shipped out on loan and many sign pre-contracts with other PSL outfits unbeknown to their current employers, thus pissing off the club and the player being benched.
Remember the Siyethemba Sithebe’s pre-contract frustration at AmaZulu? Rodney Ramagalela’s fight with Polokwane City due to his pre-contract with the now defunct Highlands Park?
Some years back, Lehlohonolo Majoro was in limbo after turning down a new deal at Chiefs. Thabo Matlaba saw little or no action at Orlando Pirates after refusing to join Chippa United, and Reeve Frosler was sidelined at Wits for his pre-contract deal with Chiefs.
Blom must not commit a career-ending mistake of not accepting what his current club is offering because this could potentially spell the end of his career. His future looks bright. He also has the opportunity to play abroad in the next two to three years.
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