Rio the next Maldini?

Rio Ferdinand is on the verge of signing a 5 year extension at Old Trafford. He reportedly will make around the 120K British Pounds per week. Per week dawg…

That will effectively keep him at Manchester United for the rest of his career, since he’s 29 now and at 34, most players call it quits.

Although I’d love to see Rio in a different big-club jersey, there really is no incentive for him to leave Manchester. He’s at a top club that perennially contends for the EPL and Champions League titles.

This puts him in the same category of classy loyalists like Paolo Maldini, who at 40 years old, has dedicated his entire career to AC Milan.

Not many players, of the post-Bosman ruling era (free agent-ship), follow this path. Club loyalty has given way to the pursuit of big paychecks. It’s sorta destroyed traditionalist football: Where players play for a club/city they loved all their lives, for any amount of money.

It’s refreshing to know that Rio Ferdinand wants to go this route. It sets him at a class apart from many other professionals. Although 120K pounds a week ain’t no crumbs, it’s the loyalty that will engrave him as a Manchester United legend long after his career is over.