West Ham’s sporting director on competing with giants, youthful selfishness and why he expects more countries to buy clubs
As Mark Noble considers the enormous task he will face in his new role as West Ham’s sporting director, he shares his belief that, “in the next 10 to 15 years probably half of the Premier League’s teams will be owned by countries”. Noble played more than 500 games for West Ham, from 2004 to May this year, and the consistency and loyalty of that commitment stand in sharp contrast with the outlandish riches which will transform the Premier League much further.
“People love football, globally,” Noble says as he prepares to begin his challenging position in January. “Other sports are fantastic but they don’t [generate] that affection, yes obsession, we have with football. I’m talking about countries that people don’t even know exist which love football.”
Written by Donald McRae
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/20/mark-noble-declan-rice-west-ham-sporting-director under the title “Mark Noble: ‘If a top club wants Declan Rice they’re just going to pay for him, full stop’”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
