On Monday, Jack Grealish announced his intention to represent England in international football after playing for the Republic of Ireland at various underage levels.
Grealish's agent Jonathan Barnett also represents Gareth Bale, and claims the Real Madrid star could have played for England which would have been more financially beneficial for the 26 year old. “He could have qualified through his grandmother and I tell you that it has cost him millions and millions of pounds. You can imagine what it would have been like if he were playing for England next summer in the Euros... but he does love playing for Wales.”
When that quote reached these shores earlier this month, alarm bells rang among Irish fans. Once Grealish's announcement was made on Monday, Luke Edwards from The Telegraph reported that the Aston Villa player made the switch because it made "commercial sense".
I've been reliably informed that Jack Grealish has elected to play for England because it makes more "commercial sense" to do so. Great
— Luke Edwards (@LukeEdwardsTele) September 28, 2015
Newstalk.com spoke to SportsPro's Eoin Connolly and Kelli O'Keeffe from PSG Sponsorship to discuss Grealish's potential earnings now that he has pledged his allegiance to England.
"For Grealish, there’s a case to be made that he’d be more appealing to brands if he played for England", Connolly told Newstalk.com. "It would be interesting to compare the profile of Robbie Keane and Damien Duff, two players who performed extremely well at international level and at a World Cup, with some of the rank and file of the England team. But the development of Grealish’s career is the other issue. People working at major brands will tell you again and again that performance and professionalism matter above anything else."
According to the Sunday Independent's 2015 Rich List, Robbie Keane is worth €34million. Keane's current wealth is around half of that of his LA Galaxy teammate Steven Gerrard who earned £42million according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
Keane, Ireland's record goalscorer, has done far more than just set up his stall in on the West Coast and watch the money come tumbling in. The 35-year-old has become a cult hero in the states and was last year named the MLS's Most Valuable Player.
For him, the brand hasn't been as important and has remained a mainstay in the Ireland set-up as a proven goalscorer, but he has become synonymous with LA Galaxy, despite the fact that he has a distinguished career and played for a number of Premier League sides, as well as Serie A giants Internazionale.
All of that contributed to his personal wealth, but in a recent list of the top 50 richest footballers, his former Ireland team-mate Damien Duff also made the cut, with a fortune of about £18.5 million to his name. Those are the type of figures that Grealish could have achieved if he had declared for Ireland and made himself a permanent fixture in a Premier League side.
Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard have played together for Liverpool and LA Galaxy. Picture by: Victor R. Caivano / AP/Press Association Images
With the departure of Benteke from Aston Villa over the summer Grealish is probably the most exciting prospect of that group of players and nobody seems to be capturing the imagination quite like the 20-year-old.
Akin to Ross Barkley at Everton, Grealish is young fresh and exciting, but far from the finished article. Grealish is still behind the Everton man when it comes to playing for England and has a long way to go in his international career. As a boyhood Villa fan, he can become the face of that club if he chooses not to move on, similarly to Barkley. Both players could then generate huge sponsor revenue both locally, in their respective cities, but internationally thanks to the global appeal of the Premier League. As established stars in an England team that routinely makes it to the World Cup and European championships, that will make them all the more attractive to sponsors.
As a comparison however, Barkley's net worth is already creeping up on that of Damien Duff, showing the pulling power of being an Engish international. As a young promising star, Barkley's Everton contract reflects his value to the team as well as his commercial value. The 21-year old earns over €3 million a year, and has a personal fortune that is estimated to be in the region of €15.5 million already, with the best years of his career still ahead of him.
For now, Grealish is in the minor leagues compared to those numbers, but Connolly thinks that he and his agent Barnett may be already planning for the long term. "While ‘commercial reasons’ might be one consideration it’s very unlikely that Grealish and Barnett will have pressed ahead with this decision without some serious assurances about his place in England’s plans for the future. It’s just as unlikely – with respect to Aston Villa – that a move to a club higher up the league, at the appropriate time, wouldn’t be in either’s long-term plans as a way of maintaining his progress on and off the pitch."
While the potential earnings involved in representing England may be substantial, Connolly would not be be surprised if Grealish thought hard about his decision. "These commercial considerations may also be a way of rationalising what will have been a difficult and emotional decision for the player and his family. Nationality can be a complex thing to define, particularly for someone from Grealish’s background in a part of the country where Irish culture is prominent. Some players in that position would only have considered playing for England; others would have expected or been expected to play for Ireland. Perhaps the best way for Grealish to make this call has been to frame the argument in starkly professional terms."
Kelli O'Keeffe told Newstalk.com that Grealish's decision to represent England over Ireland should help him financially. "From a marketing and sponsorship perspective, choosing England over Ireland is likely to be very beneficial for Jack Grealish. Being an English soccer international carries huge weight in terms of status, earning potential and marketability in England. What is difficult to quantify, is whether a 40 or 50 times capped Irish player, who appears on a world stage such as a World Cup, is more marketable than an English player capped a handful of times. Only time will tell."
Martin Lipton from The Sun spoke to Off the Ball earlier this week about Grealish's decision. He is unsure about Grealish's future with Roy Hodgson's side. "At the moment, there's no guarantee that he'll be in an England squad in the near future," he said. "He is one of a number of players who will be looked at by England but there are certainly other players of quality who are ahead of him in the squad."
Whatever happens with Grealish in the future, the Aston Villa midfielder has made his decision to represent the country of his birth. As Martin O'Neill showed with his persual of the player, Ireland's loss will almost certainly be England's gain.
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