PREMIER LEAGUE clubs are reportedly growing concerned about stars deciding to leave the country over unhappy partners.
The sides have turned to player care experts to help new arrivals and their families settle into their new environments so the stars can focus on giving their best on the pitch.
One such expert is Hugo Scheckter, a player care expert who has worked with West Ham and Brentford, as well as founding the Player Care Group in 2020.
Speaking to the Mirror, Scheckter said: “The partners, especially at the Premier League level, none of them tend to work or very few of them tend to work, and so you have a situation where they’ve just sat around and so trying to provide a purpose for them and a direction for them is really important.
“We see it more and more where the player is really happy, but the partner or the family aren’t, and so we’re seeing clubs invest more and more into family programs.
“It can be hard moving to a new country. We’re definitely seeing that as a bigger issue, where players are happy, partners are not, and then that’s leading to a player either wanting to leave or talking about potentially having to leave, which is a disaster for clubs.”
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While WAG discontent can bubble under the radar, the partners of some stars have been more open about their distaste for their time in the Prem.
Angel Di Maria‘s wife Jorgelina Cardoso gave an explosive response in 2022 when asked to look back on her time in England, while her husband was playing for Manchester United.
She told Argentinian outlet LAM: “People are all weird. You walk around and you don’t know if they’re going to kill you. The food is disgusting. The women look like porcelain.
“Angel and I were in Madrid, at the best team in the world, perfect food, perfect weather, everything was perfect. And then came United’s proposal…
“I told him ‘no way’, but he kept saying we will be a little more financially secure and we have to go. We fought about it.
“I don’t blame him for going there. It was horrible, so horrible. I just told him, ‘Darling, I want to kill myself, it’s night-time at two o’clock.’”
Sara Arfaoui, wife of former Manchester City star Ilkay Gundogan, echoed her sentiments on the country’s culinary culture when asked about her favourite restaurant spot in Manchester.
She said: “Sorry, I’m sad to be honest but nothing. I tried so bad to find a good restaurant but horrible food everywhere. Can’t find a real Italian or good sushi or just fresh food . . . everywhere frozen.”
If these reactions are anything to go by, perhaps the player care process should start with a private chef.
But it’s not just fears around holding on to players that has driven the player care trend in recent years.
Sports science is also a contributing factor, with teams acknowledging that a happier player tends to perform better on the pitch.
Scheckter added: “We want to take away the burden of the stresses associated with everyday life as much as we can so players can focus on training and matches.
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“For three or four hours a day, players are at the training ground. Everything outside of that can be covered by player care.
“It could be personal-developmental stuff, giving them the life skills to improve themselves, welfare stuff like signposting to mental health provisions, or operational things like relocations and problem-solving.”
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