COMMENT
How could one not have a huge amount of sympathy for poor Axel Witsel? Earlier this week, the Zenit midfielder was forced to make "a very difficult choice": either accept an offer from Juventus or move to Tianjin Quanjian.
It was easy to understand why it was such an unenviable dilemma for Witsel. He had been dreaming of joining Juve for the best part of 18 months and made no secret of the fact. The former Benfica starlet had long spoken on his desire to test himself at the very highest level. He desperately wanted to play for one of Europe's elite, a side capable of winning the top prize in club football, the Champions League.
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However, Tianjin Quanjian had offered him a salary of €18 million a year. (And Sophie thought she had a tough choice to make!)
Unsurprisingly, Witsel, faced with such a daunting decision, did not know what to do; which side to select.
"On the one hand, there was a really great team and a top club like Juve," he mournfully explained in a presumably tearful interview with Tuttosport, "but, on the other, there was an unignorable offer for the future of my family."
Essentially, in Turin, Witsel would have had to somehow find a way to get by on just €4.5 million per year. In China, he would pocket four times that paltry figure and his family would never have to worry about living on the breadline.
Ultimately, that was why a 27-year-old Belgian bravely and nobly decided to give up his dream of playing for one of the most prestigious clubs in world football for the sake of his loved ones (And they say that there are no longer any role models in football!)
Oscar, by contrast, decided to look after No.1 by agreeing to leave Chelsea for Shanghai SIPG. However, this was not a case of a player putting his financial interests first. Oh, no, the €475,000 a week on offer was merely a bonus. Oscar was not driven by greed but game time.
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"It played a key part in his desire to leave," Shanghai SIPG general manager Sui Guoyang explained after acquiring the Brazil international for €60 million. "He felt terrible sitting on the bench and not being involved. He is so young."
Indeed, the 25-year-old Oscar could not have afforded to waste any more time trying to prove his worth to Blues boss Antonio Conte. Or to have moved to one of the other major clubs interested in his services. Only in China would he have the opportunity to realise his full potential.
Carlos Tevez, by contrast, has already proven his class at the highest level - winning a host of major honours - so who would begrudge him one last big payday before he calls time on his illustrious career?
Still, Tevez was surprisingly torn over his transfer to Shanghai Shenhua. "I am suffering," he told TyCSports, as he mulled over whether to renege on his promise to finish his career at his beloved Boca Juniors or become the highest-paid player in football history.
Would any of us really have wanted to swap places with Carlitos; to have had to deal with such a dilemma? The forward admitted before he had made his mind up, "I still do not imagine myself leaving Boca... The decision is more personal than anything else and accepting the reality is difficult." Thankfully for Tevez, his new weekly wage of €725,000 has made life somewhat easier to bear.
Of course, our jealous, cynical sides will tell us that Witsel, Oscar and Tevez are simply motivated by money, personifications of the game's growing avarice. However, none of us will ever know what it's like to be in their shoes.
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None of us will ever know what it feels like to be offered the opportunity to play for the Italian champions; or to leave the Premier League leaders; or be cheered by 49,000 adoring fans at a bouncing Bombonera - and then have to give that up for a few million more.
None of us will ever know that pain. None of us will ever be unfortunate enough to become that greedy.