AC Milan and USA defender Oguchi Onyewu to play for free
USA international defender Oguchi Onyewu has signed a one-year extension to his AC Milan contract, but it is a deal with a difference.
Onyewu has been sidelined since tearing a patella tendon in his knee while playing for his country in October, and has rewarded Milan for his medical care by agreeing to play for free in the final year of his contract, which will now be the 2012/13 season after his deal was extended.
The defender, who signed for Milan from Standard Liège last summer, is fit enough to play for his country at the forthcoming World Cup, and his benevolent decision has been met with joy by his club.
“Oguchi Onyewu has today been a protagonist on a human and compassionate level,” read a statement on the Milan website.
“Oguchi’s gesture is exemplary, and deserves sincere congratulations.”
The defender, who had a loan spell in the Premier League with Newcastle United in 2007, isn’t the first footballer to demonstrate such generous qualities.
In 2004, Roma’s Damiano Tommasi requested that he be paid the same amount as the club’s youth team players (around €1500 a month) when a tackle from Stoke City’s Gerry Taggart in a pre-season friendly saw the Italian sidelined for the entirety of the following season, while Joseba Etxeberria, the Spanish winger, brought his 15-year association with Athletic Bilbao to an end on Saturday when he played his final match for the club. He had not received a wage for the entirety of the campaign.
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