Ornstein on Monday: Anger over Rooney deal, Wilshere’s tensions, star refuses to promote mental health

Furious Preston could ditch sponsor over Rooney deal

The role played by betting company 32Red in Derby County’s signing of Wayne Rooney has generated fierce debate, much of it rightly focusing on ethical issues.

But there is also a sporting angle and little has been known about how rival clubs with the same sponsor feel towards the situation. Derby have a “star player” clause in their 32Red contract which provides an extra £1.5 million in funding and can be used however the club wishes, including to help cover Rooney’s salary.

My colleague Daniel Taylor describes it as “a strange set-up”, particularly because there are three other Championship teams — Leeds United, Preston North End and Middlesbrough — who have endorsement deals with the same firm but do not benefit from the bonus that has been of such assistance to Derby.

“How would Leeds react, for example, if they were denied promotion at Pride Park on the penultimate weekend of the season because of a goal scored by a striker whose employment by Derby was funded or part-funded by the company that sponsors both clubs?” he writes.

Well, The Athletic has asked the question and it emerges that neither Leeds nor Middlesbrough have a particular problem with the relationship. Preston, on the other hand, are not happy at all and are considering extricating themselves from the partnership at the end of the season as a result. The two-year contract they signed with 32Red in 2018 expires this summer but the betting company can trigger an option to extend by a further 12 months. If Preston decide they want out and can find a replacement, they are minded to tell 32Red not to exercise the option and, should that request be poorly received, they would cite Derby as the reason.

Preston host Derby on March 21, seven games from the end of the season, and a Deepdale source said: “We’ll be facing a team who have a star player we couldn’t even dream of affording, because our sponsor paid for it. It’s a nonsense.

“We entered into a commercial relationship with a sponsor and that sponsor is compromising our ability to compete. By comparison to what 32Red are paying Derby in the first place, this top-up arrangement is disproportionate. These aren’t normal commercial sponsorship numbers.”

It is understood that during the last round of new contract and renewal negotiations, 32Red gave every client a chance to be as creative as possible with their deals, think outside the box and collaborate with them to incorporate mechanisms for accessing additional finance. Derby were the only club to suggest a “star player” clause and are also among three sides who proposed community projects — in their case, the Team Talk mental health scheme — that have released even more money. Preston and Leeds are said not to have put forward any ideas so far, however 32Red would be willing to discuss investment initiatives during the course of contracts.

Neil Banbury, UK general manager at 32Red told The Athletic: “We have reinvented the model of sponsorship to ensure it benefits both clubs and their communities. We are always keen to be innovative and unique with our sponsorship deals across all sports and encourage our sporting partners to work with us to ensure sponsorship in sport is beneficial to everyone.”

Though Leeds and Middlesbrough are thought to be comfortable with the conduct of Derby and 32Red there is, if anything, frustration that they did not act similarly. The EFL’s financial fair play rules aim to ensure club sustainability and Leeds believe using an external sponsor to raise genuine revenue, which can contribute to player and other costs, makes far more sense than relying on owners, the sale of stadiums or other questionable methods.

They accept Derby’s “star player” clause is part of a competitive commercial landscape and that, regardless of when the funds arrive, in principle it is no different to the marketing uplift the likes of David Beckham, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have provided clubs over the years. Leeds’ anger is instead directed at the EFL regulations, which an Elland Road source calls “embarrassing” for a perceived lack of clarity over what activity is acceptable or not.

The Yorkshire club were punished last year for spying on Derby training, contravening a law that demands “each club behave towards each other club and the league with the utmost good faith”. But their view is there are numerous matters — for instance, the “star player” clause and stadium sales — that are mired in uncertainty and they feel that undermines the integrity of the competition

Vardy won’t replace Kane for England, Ings likely to get call-up, Calvert-Lewin in contention

Confirmation that Harry Kane will be sidelined until April with a torn hamstring has increased speculation that Jamie Vardy could be asked to come out of international retirement and make himself available for England at this summer’s European Championship.

Vardy, who stepped back from representing his country after the 2018 World Cup finals, is the Premier League’s top scorer this season with 17 goals and would ordinarily be an obvious candidate for England manager Gareth Southgate heading into the next major tournament.

That candidacy would be strong if Kane was in peak condition and even more so now the captain has undergone surgery, which will severely limit his game time before the competition begins. But The Athletic understands that, regardless of Vardy’s form and availability, Southgate is highly unlikely to consider the 33-year-old Leicester City striker — unless England face a major fitness crisis.

If, for example, Kane was ruled out completely and then Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham suffered a significant injury of his own, the situation could change.

Since Vardy made his decision, Southgate has held a clear stance of looking to the future and will prioritise Kane, who is expected to be back, alongside the likes of Abraham, Marcus Rashford of Manchester United, Southampton’s free-scoring Danny Ings and Callum Wilson of Bournemouth. Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin is on the radar, while players such as Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea) are also forward options.

With Abraham currently next in line to Kane, Rashford preferring to operate centrally and Ings on course to be called up for the March friendlies against Italy and Denmark — England’s last games before naming their Euros squad — there is now little prospect of Vardy figuring.

Both sides accept you can never say never and the door will not be closed but the probability has become so remote that inside the Football Association it is no longer seen as a debate. Given it was Vardy’s choice to retire, from the FA’s perspective any chance of the former Fleetwood Town front man returning to the fold would require him to show an appetite and there has been no sign of that so far.

An added complication is that Vardy has benefited from focusing solely on club football to such an extent that it is thought he would only contemplate a comeback if he was first choice to lead England’s attack and Southgate cannot provide that guarantee, which Vardy is said to fully respect.

Wilshere’s tensions with medical staff as he eyes return

As West Ham embark upon a new era under the management of David Moyes, there is also hope that it will prove to be a fresh start at the London Stadium for midfielder Jack Wilshere.

News of another injury setback has raised further questions about Wilshere’s future and the decision by West Ham to sign him as a free agent after leaving Arsenal in July 2018. The latest problem in a career plagued by physical issues relates to his pelvic area, but it is not thought to be a major concern and he should return to full training in the next fortnight.

Wilshere has yet to join the main group for a session with Moyes and, when he does, it will be a vital opportunity to impress both West Ham and potential suitors, with 18 months left on a three-year contract. It is understood he would resist any attempts to be sold this month.

It seemed the worst of Wilshere’s fitness worries might be in the past when he came back for Arsenal in late April 2016 and represented England at the European Championship that summer. The following season, he joined Bournemouth on loan and a set of guidelines were devised between the two clubs to carefully manage his load and recovery around training and matches.

Wilshere registered 29 appearances and, although his campaign was ended by a broken leg in April, he recovered to play 38 games for Arsenal in 2017-18 and encourage West Ham to make a move. The guidelines had been working effectively but they were not continued, partly because then-manager Manuel Pellegrini expected Wilshere to participate in every training session, and the Chilean has spoken publicly about putting some of his own protocols in place.

Ankle trouble meant Wilshere featured only eight times in 2018-19 and amid what The Athletic understands to be a breakdown in relations with members of the West Ham medical and fitness set-up, he hired a private physiotherapist to work with him outside the club.

While Wilshere has just eight matches to his name again so far this season, there is confidence around the London Stadium that he will play a more prominent role in the months ahead.

Skipp wants loan

Despite injuries potentially raising his chances of playing at Tottenham, The Athletic understands Oliver Skipp would still be keen to go out on loan having only played 12 Premier League minutes this season. Although there has been interest from Turkey, Holland and Germany, due to the short nature of any loan and thus a need for cultural adaptation, it is thought he would opt for a domestic club.

MP calls for gambling crackdown

On Tuesday last week, my colleague Laurie Whitwell broke the story that more than 30 FA Cup matches were being streamed exclusively on gambling websites, most notably Bet365, with fans needing to sign up and make a bet or deposit cash to watch. And on Thursday the issue was being debated in Parliament.

Carolyn Harris MP read The Athletic’s article and tabled an urgent question, which was responded to by Nigel Adams MP, minister of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who said sporting organisations have a responsibility to ensure the safety of fans.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman subsequently said: “We believe the Football Association should reconsider its deal with Bet365. All parties will have their concerns about that.”

The FA struck a broadcast agreement with sports marketing giant IMG, which then sold rights to seven seven gambling websites: Bet365, Betfair, William Hill, Coral, Ladbrokes, Unibet and Paddy Power. In the aftermath of criticism, the Betting and Gaming Council announced those companies were willing to waive the exclusivity of the broadcasts and the FA have said they are exploring ways to get more games on terrestrial television, even if the current contract with IMG doesn’t run out until 2025.

Harris told this column: “If that is the case, I would welcome it and give the FA a round of applause for actually having a moral compass, which I had accused them of not having. As for the Betting and Gaming Council, and their announcement, I think that’s a cynical ploy to look a bit more amenable ahead of decisions on the new Gambling Act. Calculated cynicism as far as I’m concerned.”

Harris, the Swansea East MP who chairs an all-party parliamentary group called Gambling Related Harm, sees gambling’s relationship with football as insidious. “Football has been hijacked by the gambling industry,” she said. “So many people from right across society who would never consider gambling may watch football and it’s become a billboard for betting. People have committed crime to feed their gambling habits, lost their lives, families destroyed. It is an addiction, like alcohol and drugs, a big health issue and we need to be treating it as such.

“The gambling industry is the gift that keeps on giving. From Ladbrokes giving free bets for Christmas Day, right the way through to Bet365 enticing anyone to watch games of football, make them bet, and offer odds right the way through the game. What about that is not grooming?”

Harris’s APPG were instrumental in getting the levels allowed on fixed-odds betting terminals reduced from £100 every 20 seconds to £2 every 20 seconds and says her focus now “is going to be making sure that every single aspect of gambling is scrutinised to with an inch of existence with the Gambling Act.”