The Cost of Christian

By Greg Horgan & Simon Ainsworth

Make no bones about it: Christian Vieri would be a fantastic signing for Sydney FC. He has in the past been a world class player, better than any other we have produced, and though his star is on the wane he was still in consideration for the Italian World Cup squad until his recent injury.

As written in yesterday's article "Sydney considers Vieri to replace Yorke" in The Australian, Vieri has produced some of his best performances at World Cups in the past. However his form this season has been less than dynamic yielding only 5 goals. Nevertheless a player of his status would be an amazing coup for Sydney FC and the A-League.

An A-League leader-board in the coming seasons with the names Christian Vieri (Sydney FC) and Mark Viduka (possibly Melbourne FC in 2007/08) is a mouth-watering prospect for A-League fans and, more importantly, potential A-league fans.

Before we get ahead of ourselves a dose of realism is required before swallowing the "leak" soup prepared by Vieri's friend and restaurant owner Attilio Labbozzetta.

Sydney FC last year posted a loss of $5.5 million in their first year. This is a massive loss in a competition where the primary aim of clubs must be consolidation given the financial troubles that beset former soccer league incarnations in Australia.

The Sydney club recently fell out with Pierre Littbarksi whose contract was cancelled by mutual consent and no doubt they will struggle to afford to pay their next coach Littbarski's $700,000 p.a. To suggest then that Sydney FC can afford to spend $1.5 million pa on Vieri, $400,000 more than they currently pay Dwight Yorke, would appear to be wishful thinking even if Anthony LaPaglia decides to help fund part of his salary.

Australia's new A-League should heed the lessons of the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) which collapsed in 1984. The NASL signed up old, high profile foreign players on inflated salaries including Pele, Cruyff, Best and Beckenbauer. Overexpansion was a huge factor in the death of the NASL but the wages paid to players in decline was a contributing factor.

Furthermore with so many sensational signings early in their existence, Sydney FC could struggle to build a loyal fan-base who will stick with them through the bad times when their best player might have two left feet and an inability to "score in a brothel". In fact if supporter numbers dwindle, remaining Hollywood FC fans might be taunted in future years with chants of "Are you Northern Spirit in disguise?"

It would be great to see Vieri in the pale blue of Sydney FC but let us hope that it does not come at the cost of financial prudence and the long term stability of the club.

(Picture courtesy of the BBC)