Now I’d better state I’m a Chelsea fan – however the saga of a 12 month transfer ban seems to be missing the point. The player involved Gaël Kakuta has been banned for four months for doing nothing more than realising a contract he signed at 14 was illegal and that he could earn more money playing for Chelsea.

Lens had been training Kakuta since the age of nine, and he signed a pre-contract agreement with the club when he was 14 and a half years old that stated he would sign professional terms with Lens at 17, the first opportunity under French employment law. Chelsea’s legal advice appears to have been that the pre-contract was unenforceable, an interpretation that François Collado, general manager of Lens at the time, disputed from the outset. Matt Scott, The Guardian.

So as I understand it Lens effectively illegally signed a 14-year-old player and for that they are rewarded by FIFA with just over a million Euros, Chelsea are banned from signing players for 12 months and Kakuta is banned for four months.

Now if both teams weren’t so greedy – Chelsea for wanting to pay less – Lens for wanting more – we’d be none the wiser. You can be sure that Lens isn’t the only football team signing under-age players.

Now greed and football – that’s a venomous combination that’s playing havoc with our national game.