Slaven Bilic claims players and agents now run football

Former West Ham manager Slaven Bilic says player power has increased to such an extent that most clubs are now completely reliant on the whims of their biggest stars and their agents.

Bilic, who was sacked by the Hammers in November and replaced by David Moyes, was speaking in the aftermath of Alexis Sanchez’s stunning move from Arsenal to Manchester United, which saw his adviser Fernando Felicevich net a £15million fee.

Using interest from Manchester City, Felicevich managed to seal a weekly wage worth as much as £600,000-a-week for the Chilean as well as his own windfall, and Bilic believes top players and agents are now in control the game.

Slaven Bilic says players and agents now ‘dictate’ the way clubs are run across the world

Fernando Felicevich (L) has overseen Sanchez's moves to Udinese, Barcelona and Arsenal

Fernando Felicevich (L) has overseen Sanchez’s moves to Udinese, Barcelona and Arsenal

He told Sky Sports: ‘Today, players and agents are dictating the clubs. You have now the agents working together, you have a couple of guys who have five, six or seven players from one club under the belt. As a manager you are almost depending on them. 

‘You have still some clubs in Europe who are still bigger than the players. Those are the clubs that have a history of being hard clubs, like Juventus. Manchester United is a club like that.

‘But those clubs that are in transition and are getting good players because they have some money — not big, big clubs — then the players are, very soon, they become basically bigger than the club.’

Felicevich celebrates an Arsenal FA Cup triumph with Sanchez

Felicevich  with another high-profile client, Arturo Vidal of Bayern Munich (left)

Felicevich celebrates an Arsenal FA Cup triumph with Sanchez, left, and with another high-profile client, Arturo Vidal of Bayern Munich (left in right-hand image)

HOW SANCHEZ NETS £600,000-A-WEEK 

Basic weekly wage: £350,000. 

This is the highest basic wage of any player in the Premier League. Manchester United have four of the top six earners in terms of basic weekly wage with Paul Pogba on £290,000, Romelu Lukaku on £250,000 and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on £220,000. Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure also earn £220,000.

Image rights: £100,000 a week

Bonuses: £144,000 a week

Bilic was the victim of just such an experience at the London Stadium when his star player Dimitri Payet demanded a transfer, which eventually resulted in him refusing to play for West Ham.

The Hammers stood firm for several weeks before eventually agreeing to a sale with Marseille, a position Arsene Wenger attempted to adopt with Sanchez despite the fact that his contract was running down.

But Bilic was eventually left with little choice after the controversy surrounding Payet started to affect the dressing room; something Wenger has also admitted to with regard to their own transfer saga.

Bilic continued: ‘With Dimitri, he was doing everything right on the pitch but just wanted to go home. He had some private problems and in that moment I tried to persuade him to stay because he was our best player. 

‘I spoke to him a few times, but it came to the point that it started to damage the dressing room. When it started to harm the team, I had to react and unfortunately I had to draw the line.’ 

Bilic had no other option but to let Dimitri Payet leave when the dressing room was affected

Bilic had no other option but to let Dimitri Payet leave when the dressing room was affected

The controversy surrounding Payet started to have an adverse effect on West Ham as a club

The controversy surrounding Payet started to have an adverse effect on West Ham as a club



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