During these confinement times, Alexandre Song is fond of anecdotes about his career. In a live on Instagram with the basketball player, Pascal Siakam, the Cameroonian delivers an anecdote of his years at Arsenal.
“ When I arrived at Arsenal, I signed my first professional contract for £15,000 per week, I was so euphoric, can you imagine, a young teenager jumping from 4,000 to 15,000… And so I wanted to compare myself to big guys because I could do shopping at ease, crazy parties etc… At practice, I could see the King (Thierry Henry) arrive in a car but pu****, the car was a jewel and so I thought I needed the same at all costs. You know, as a footballer, you go to the house, you sign papers and you are given the car, they collect money from your salary… That’s how I got the same car as the King, but I swear, after two months, I returned the car. All my money went into fuel and I asked them, give me Toyota. Your thing is too much for me — Back to practice, Titi asked me, but son, where’s the car? I answered him, boss, I do not deserve that car…”
“ Most young footballers live beyond their means, you know, I did eight years at Arsenal but I swear, it was during the last four years that I can say that I started making a good living, because the salary had gone up considerably and I understood that I was a waster…. For eight years and I couldn’t even save £100,000 in my bank account, which means people thought I was a millionaire, but it was actually on paper. When the contract of FC Barcelona arrived and I saw the amount that I was going to receive, I did not think twice, I thought of my wife and my children, it was necessary that after football, comes a comfortable life for them… And then I got the manager of Barca who told me I was not going to play much, I didn’t care, I knew that I will be a millionaire soon.”
Ending up with precious pieces of advice for the younger generation, “ I always say, a 20-year-old who driving a Ferrari is a poor because at 20, you haven’t done anything yet…. but a 50-year-old man driving in a Bentley is a respected man .”