I sort of resent the fact that it’s only really acceptable to be a one-club player (that is, stay with one club for your entire career, or the majority of it) in Europe. No one ever complains about Gerrard staying at Liverpool or Puyol staying at Barcelona, but if Neymar wants to stay at Santos or if Landon Donovan wants to stay with the LA Galaxy, they get criticized by other players/fans.

I mean, why? I understand that Neymar and Landon would be presented with better competition in Europe, and thus, they’ll have a better opportunity to improve themselves as players, but there’s no shame in deciding to stay at one club for the rest of your life, regardless of where it is. That sort of loyalty’s rare these days, and it’s kind of nice to see players here and there who love their club and want to stay there, especially in this age of so-called “mercenary athletes”.

I don’t see why it has to have such negativity attached to it. It’s a missed opportunity, there’s no doubt about that, but there’s no shame in it.

At least I don’t think so.