DeanoAustin
Jimmy McCormick
I do think this not fulfilling their talent thing tends not to bother footballers, it's no different in the real world for the masses. I can draw my own comparisons, from school age I was labelled as intelligent but lethargic and that continued right through to working age in the city where I haven't gone quite as high up yet as I could have, had I really knuckled down.
But I've done well enough to earn decent money and have a comfortable living, and I sleep just fine. For the likes of NDombele? They are me x1000 never having to worry about anything financially and all whilst playing the game they love.
It's only the smallest percentage of professional footballers that reach the very top levels of football. And for those that have the ability to but don't get there, most of them I doubt it bothers them in the slightest. If it did, they would have done something about it....
You may be correct and 10m a year will certainly cushion the blow for him. I'd imagine it could be a bit different for footballers compared with Ordinary Joes like us though...
Football is something all players have to be passionate about. Otherwise they'd never have made it given the dedication it takes to make it as a pro. I know money can turn heads and ruin motivation but at some point, all these lads wanted to be footballers just to be footballers, not because of the riches it offered.
The dream of playing in Champions League finals, the dream of playing in World Cups. Ndombele had the ability to do all that and it looks like it'll go unfulfilled. There was some crazy stat about the number of ex players whose marriages fall apart within a few years of retiring. The percentage was huge and I don't want to misquote it. People assumed that the wives were money grabbers and got fed up when the money stopped rolling in. It turned out that in the majority of cases, the ex-player couldn't cope with not being a footballer anymore and became unbearable or developed addiction problems.
It'd have to eat away at you IMO...