If Wayne Bridge can be paid £92,000 a week by Manchester City, we can be sure that football remains in thrall to the idea that whatever the problem, it is best to throw money at it.

But at a time when many of our assumptions — about our jobs, mortgages, bank deposits — are being tested, why should the national game not re-examine its relationship with cash? Does money really bring health and happiness? Perhaps these are signs that even football is starting to reconsider old beliefs . . .

There’s no point in keeping a player who wants to leave

Trotted out since time began as an excuse for players to move on to bigger things — and clubs to justify to angry supporters the sale of the star striker — offloading a disgruntled player has long been the norm. That is until Martin O’Neill and Randy Lerner, two men not afraid of challenging conventional wisdom, declined to sell Gareth Barry to Liverpool last summer for a penny less than their £18 million valuation. Barry stayed and, commendably (although let us not give him a halo) got on with the job for which he is handsomely rewarded by Aston Villa.

Now Steve Gibson, the Middlesbrough chairman, is vowing to be similarly resolute in his treatment of Stewart Downing, going even farther by insisting that the winger will not be allowed to join Tottenham Hotspur for any sum.

You might argue that Villa and Middlesbrough have been doing what is best for business, but in declining to take easy cash, they have overturned the perception that the big clubs with the big money always get their way. Isolated cases, perhaps, but welcome signs that profit can be found in long-term strategy.

A player will never move for less money

Why not? I have a friend who has switched newspapers for lower wages, seeking fresh pastures, a new lease of life and greater fulfilment. Why should the same not apply to, say, Peter Crouch if he should be presented with the chance to join Aston Villa?

His £70,000 wages are thought to be an insurmountable sticking point to a move from Portsmouth, but if he thinks the move could improve his standing, should he not seek to swap clubs and pick up £2.5 million rather than £3.5 million per year?

When Johnny Haynes, fondly celebrated with a statue outside Craven Cottage, was honoured by Fulham at a dinner a few years back, he was invited up on stage. Guests were asked to salute this great one-club man, loyal to Fulham to the end. “I’d have gone to Spurs for more money if only they’d let me,” Haynes said, rather deviating from the script.

But that was in the age of the maximum wage, when a player such as Haynes would have to catch a bus home from Wembley after playing for England. These days, most top-flight footballers need never work again if they have a half-decent accountant, so why the need to chase after ever-bigger salaries? “Footballer willingly takes pay cut” need not be a hold-the-back-page story.

Who would turn down a pay rise?

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