When trophies and cash take backseat to happiness

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This article was published 05/04/2024 (895 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“I need to have more than just a paycheck and trophies. I need to feel something in my soul.”

Marek Hamsik penned these lines for The Players’ Tribune back in 2017. He had just completed his 10th season as a Napoli midfielder, and he marked the occasion by composing a love letter to the southern Italian city.

“The reason I have stayed so long is about more than football,” he wrote. “In Naples I am part of a community — a family — that holds a very special place in my heart.”

Hamsik had often drawn the interest of clubs like Juventus, Chelsea and Barcelona, and he would have improved each of those European heavyweights. He’d also have tripled his wages. Perhaps the comfort he enjoyed in Campania is similar to Xabi Alonso’s experience on the east bank of the Rhine.

At 42 years of age, and in only his first start-to-finish season in top-flight coaching, Alonso is widely — and rightfully — considered the brightest young manager in world football. His Bayer Leverkusen side will likely secure a first Bundesliga title in club history later this month, and DFB-Pokal and Europa League triumphs could follow in May.

In a matter of weeks, Alonso can more than double Leverkusen’s total of major trophies collected over 120 years. Little wonder Bayern Munich and Liverpool so covet him. And more than a few jaws dropped last week when he spurned them both.

“I have the conviction I am in the right place at Bayer Leverkusen, and I want to keep growing with the club, growing with the players,” he remarked in his Good Friday press conference.

He added, quite notably: “I want to enjoy wherever I am, and I am enjoying it at Leverkusen.”

The gasps from Allianz-Arena, from Anfield and from just about everywhere else were just about audible.

Should Alonso’s ambition not take him to the biggest jobs in his profession, and as quickly as possible? In the same vein, shouldn’t Hamsik have wanted more than the pair of Coppa Italia medals he won at Napoli? And what about the salaries they turned down?

It’s understandable that pundits, fans and basically everyone whose imaginations top out at perceived hierarchies would read out the rules of the rat race to those not following them. But in doing so they’d prescribe a template of ambitions to people as diverse as the dreams to which they might aspire.

What if, as he himself stated, Alonso simply finds his current job a good fit?

“When you’re in a calm place with potential and happy and also successful, why would you swap this for turmoil, less stability and a daily soap opera?” ESPN Bundesliga commentator Derek Rae posted on X. “Hopefully Xabi Alonso’s decision changes preconceived ideas about what a manager/coach has to do at a certain stage.”

Or what a player has to do.

Consider Jonathan David. The Lille striker, bested only by Kylian Mbappe on the Ligue 1 scoring chart, is a regular subject of transfer gossip involving Aston Villa, Newcastle, AC Milan and numerous other clubs in a handful of countries. Now, perhaps he’s hopeful of a move. If so, he’ll get one. He’s clearly good enough.

On the other hand, what if David — soon to be Canada’s all-time leading goalscorer — simply likes where he lives? Lille is a beautiful city, and in a lovely part of northern France. On €187,500 per month ($276,000 CAD), the 24-year-old can enjoy a fulfilling life in a team that regularly plays in the Champions League and at which he is a leader.

David’s is a situation similar to that of Frenkie de Jong, although the speculation surrounding the Dutchman is of a much higher profile.

Manchester United came in — and came in hard — for the Barcelona midfielder in the summer of 2022, and he wasn’t having any of it. In fact, the two clubs had already agreed his transfer fee. He chose to stay put, anyway.

At the time, de Jong was making €16.5 million per year ($24 million CAD) at Camp Nou. He might have added 50 per cent to his salary at Old Trafford — but then, one might wonder how an extra €9 million could have meaningfully improved his lifestyle.

He, however, didn’t wonder. In arithmetic glaringly obvious to all but the most die-hard United supporters, de Jong weighed his being a rich man in Barcelona — where he won La Liga last season — to being a slightly richer one in Manchester, and, with all due respect, having to live in Manchester. The 26-year-old remains a Barcelona player.

There are countless further examples of players whose priorities didn’t align with traditional thinking, but which made perfect sense nonetheless.

Take Francesco Totti.

The Italian was 16 when he made his debut with AS Roma, and 14 years later he retired as a Roma player, having never left. He won exactly one Scudetto in his career and lifted the Coppa Italia twice. One of Europe’s elite attackers, he was constantly pursued by the continent’s top clubs. And yet, as his manager Luciano Spalletti said at the time, “It would be easier to move the Colosseum out of Rome.”

Would having won the Champions League at Milan or Real Madrid have made Totti more of an icon. Not a chance. Though it wouldn’t have mattered to him, anyway.

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Then there’s the list, and a long one, of superstar athletes who didn’t even like the sports they played. Carlos Tevez hated football, for example, as did Gabriel Batistuta. Andre Agassi despised tennis, and Joe DiMaggio didn’t give a rip about baseball. Count them among the many who showed up to work, kicked butt, and then went and did anything else.

It’s impossible to know what individual people might want for their lives at any given time, no matter the field of work and money on the table. And more often than might be expected, they prioritize places, relationships and contentment over the endless chasing of more.

“Naples gave me that, and I am forever grateful,” concluded Hamsik. “I have everything I’ve ever needed in Naples, and in Italy.”

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