Everyone has had a boss they didn’t like, but would you pay $80,000 just to stick it to them?
Russian striker Artem Dzyuba fell out of favor with manager Roberto Mancini at Zenit St. Petersburg earlier this season, so he was loaned out to Arsenal Tula. A clause in the deal stated that Dzyuba couldn’t play against Zenit without Arsenal paying a substantial fee. Dzyuba wanted to play so badly that he agreed to pay half of the 10 million-Ruble fee out of his own pocket, more than $80,000.
Dzyuba got his money’s worth, assisting on Tula’s first goal and scoring a late equalizer in the 3–3 draw—which you see above—and stunting all over Mancini.