ByRob Hughes
Published: MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 1997
LONDON: Steve McManaman is the epitome of soccer's modern generation. In full flow, he has balance, skill and cheek that make cynical men drool; in life he enjoys pop-star trappings.
But today, he feels used. He realizes he has been a pawn in a transfer triangle that flew him from Liverpool to Barcelona and back, during which time he may never have been more than a backstop in case Barcelona failed to sign the man it really wanted — Brazil's Rivaldo.
On Monday morning, McManaman, valued at $20 million, will be back on familiar ground, training with Liverpool. Rivaldo, less of a star but undeniably more of a goal scorer, has departed Deportivo la Coruna for a $25 million fee and an annual $3 million salary.
All else is open to interpretation. The intrigues of soccer trading would seldom pass a truth test, but this tripartite affair plumbs new depths.
A week ago, life was routine to McManaman. He believed himself to be Liverpool's mainspring and says he never wanted more than to perform for the club where he served his apprenticeship. His personal adviser happens to manage The Spice Girls, and McManaman writes a column in The Times of London.
Happiness was such an uncomplicated thing. A phone call changed that. He was told Liverpool's board had accepted Barcelona's millions and, surprised that his club would even contemplate that, he journeyed to Barcelona last Friday with two advisers.
There he sat, and sat, and sat. McManaman's agent told the media that if Barcelona was willing to pay $20 million to Liverpool it could afford $20 million to McManaman over six seasons. Nobody from Barca called even to say hello.
"My adviser spoke to Joan Gaspart, Barcelona's vice president, on a mobile telephone, and that was only a brief conversation," McManaman later stated. "Gaspart seemed to be elsewhere negotiating with another player. I think it is ridiculous — and actionable — to suggest the deal fell through because I am greedy."
Barcelona, however, encouraged the suggestion. The club had sent Bobby Robson, an Englishman deposed as coach last spring and a man instantly recognizable at any English soccer field, to scout McManaman, while it also negotiated with coveting Denilson of Sao Paulo, and Rivaldo of Coruna.
Denilson's demands were too high. Rivaldo accepted the wages for which McManaman was called greedy. And three factors made up Barcelona's mind:
Rivaldo has a sweet left foot, which will give Barcelona balance. He scored 21 goals in Spain last season. He joins two other Brazilians, all of whom speak Spanish, at Nou Camp.
The goals speak for themselves. McManaman has never scored for England and in 289 Liverpool games has hit only 42 goals. He often controls the tempo but without finishing his chances. His wispy physical appearance belies strength of character, and every romantic among us has thrilled to his guile. Though Macmanaman bridles at the notion, he has been central to Liverpool's "underachievement."
Team manager Roy Evans uttered that assessment after successive seasons.
Evans said that McManaman shone because the team was set up for him. McManaman, so refreshing in the joy he displays, appears not to read the signals.
Evans is busy recasting Liverpool's team. He let John Barnes, who supplied McManaman, go to Newcastle United for free. He paid $6.7 million to bring the forceful Paul Ince back from Italy, $6 million to buy another dynamic midfielder — Oyvind Leonhardsen of Norway — and $2.9 million for Karl-Heinz Riedle, the German whose headers won the Champions' Cup for Borussia Dortmund.
Simply giving the ball to McManaman is a dated concept. Opponents knew that if you stopped McManaman, you stopped Liverpool.
Coach Evans, under pressure to deliver, can afford no sentimentality. He is buying in steel, eschewing fantasy. McManaman was once so indispensible that he had to play, fit or not.
That is over. There is a price that, sooner or later, somebody will pay. Meanwhile, he is a player in Liverpool's pool and, meanwhile, $20 million is the same sum Liverpool is spending on an academy, a training school for the new McManamans.
He has, indeed, been used. Outstanding among Englishmen, he nevertheless finds that the freedom given to players after the Bosman ruling does not stop the manipulation by the big clubs in transfer trading.
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