What We're Reading
Florent Malouda: Chelsea's Costly Scapegoat
- Daily Mail, Thursday, May 23, 2013 1:22 PM
Florent Malouda will pocket just over $6 million this year without having kicked a ball in any competitions this season. The Chelsea winger, who will continue to earn $120,000 per
week until his contract expires on June 30th, was banished from the first-team last summer for criticizing former coach Roberto Di Matteo’s training methods and then refusing to
apologize. According to the Daily Mail, his locker was cleared and his parking space was given to another player, as the Frenchman was sent to train with Chelsea’s youth academy for the
remainder of his contract.
As the report points out, Malouda’s situation is similar to that of former Blues defender Winston Bogarde, who in 2004 was ordered to
train with the youth team for entire season after refusing to leave the club. It’s now been exactly a year since Malouda last played for the Blues, coming on as a 73rd-minute substitute against
Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League final.
Meanwhile, despite costing the club more than $6 million, Chelsea’s board maintains that it made the right decision.
