When legends walk away

Whenever we think about football, we have a few faces in our minds. These faces remind us of a club—maybe they stayed there long or had a peak time there. It all depends on different scenarios. Similarly, whenever we observe a club emblem, we remember a few names—these can be our favorite players from that specific club, but mostly they are the players that stayed loyal to them. For instance, if we talk about FC Roma, the first name that hits us will be Totti. Similarly, with FC Barcelona, it will be Puyol, while for AC Milan, it will be Paolo Maldini.

These are the names that spent most of their careers at a single club. Now they are symbolised as benchmarks for loyalty. These players denied many chances to earn big money and trophies but stayed with their clubs. In the case of Totti, he got offers from many big clubs, including European champions Real Madrid, but still denied them. He stayed loyal to his boyhood club and remained a one-club man. He stayed at FC Roma for 28 years, appearing 785 times and scoring 307 goals for them. He won three trophies at the club, including one Serie A and two Coppa Italia cups.

Recently, we observed a few major departures this summer transfer window, where some players departed from their respective clubs after spending a long time there. These players could have retired considerably at these clubs, as they are already their legends. But we witnessed a trend of club legends leaving clubs and not retiring at them.

Thomas Müller from Bayern Munich

Thomas Müller departed after 25 years at his boyhood club. He won more than 13 league titles, 8 German Super Cups, 6 German Cups, 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, 2 Super Cups, and 2 Club World Cups. An overall of 33 titles for a single club made him one of the most decorated players at a club. He joined Major League Soccer side Vancouver Whitecaps. This departure raised a question: a shift of trend in modern football where we are not witnessing any one-club men. In the case of Thomas Müller, it was expected that he would retire at Bayern Munich as a one-club man. But it all whistled out as he joined the MLS side. He was a possible name that could end up as a one-club man, but due to Bayern Munich’s financial issues, he had to leave. Thomas was one of the highest-earning players at the club, costing 10 million pounds annually. Bayern Munich had future plans for Thomas, planning him in different roles at the club. But for that, they needed him to retire first; then he would be part of this new challenge.

Thomas was not the only player who left his club this summer—there were two more legends who fans wanted to retire at their respective clubs rather than leave.

Kevin De Bruyne from Manchester City

Kevin De Bruyne joined Manchester City in 2015 for a record 45 million from VFL Wolfsburg. The Belgian international star had a brilliant career at the Blues, where he won 6 Premier League titles, 5 Carabao Cups, 3 English Super Cups, 2 FA Cups, 1 UEFA Champions League, and 1 Club World Cup. A total of 18 trophies for the Citizens as a midfielder, named as one of the best midfielders we have ever witnessed. In his ten-year career at City, he appeared 422 times, scoring 108 goals and assisting 177 times. He was already 34 years old, so he had a few seasons remaining in football.

But he departed from the club where he could have retired as a club legend. Without any doubt, he was already a fan favorite and a club legend. If he had retired at Manchester City, then things would have been more considerable. KDB joined Napoli this summer — fans wanted him to stay, but as the club had no plan for him and he was benched most of the season, staying was not an option for KDB. The club showed no intent for Kevin to retire at the club as a club legend.

Luka Modrić from Real Madrid

Luka Modrić joined Real Madrid in 2012 from Spurs for a record 40 million fee. The Croatian captain stayed at Santiago Bernabéu for 13 years, winning 6 UEFA Champions Leagues, 5 UEFA Super Cups, 5 Club World Cups, 5 Spanish Cups, 4 La Ligas, and an Intercontinental Cup. A well-decorated career for 39-year-old Luka at Real Madrid, where everyone expected him to retire at Los Blancos, but in the last few game days, it was announced Modrić would leave the club. That was surprising for fans and media representatives as well. For sure, he only appeared for cameos the whole season. Real Madrid is clearly setting up things for the next 10 to 15 years, so giving another season to Luka would be a possible hurdle for that plan, as he was already not part of the club’s plan.

Conclusion

It is important to understand why clubs today are not interested in giving legendary players the chance to retire at the club they gave everything to. With highly competitive schedules—not only in domestic leagues but also in tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League—clubs must prioritize the best available options for their starting XI. For instance, at Real Madrid, players like Jude Bellingham, Valverde, Camavinga, and Tchouaméni are currently better fits than Modrić.

The same applies to Manchester City, who replaced Kevin De Bruyne’s presence with players such as Tijjani Reijnders, Bernardo Silva, and İlkay Gündoğan. Today’s clubs focus solely on winning, often at the expense of sentiment and loyalty, which is cruel—but perhaps it is simply the new reality of modern football.