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Did anyone see the Lee Dixon interview in the Independent last week where he told the story about when he signed for Arsenal? For those who didn’t I’ll recap.

Back in 1988 when Stoke agreed to sell him to the Gunners he was offered just £500 a week in wages! That’s right, 500 quid! When he baulked at the offer and asked for a grand George Graham insinuated that he was ‘greedy’. Eventually they met half way and settled for a wage of £750 a week. Still a paltry sum by today’s standards. I mean, here was a man on the verge of playing for his country and someone who was to go on to become a part of Arsenal’s famous back four, one of the meanest in the history of the game. Put it this way, Lee Dixon in 1988 was one hell of an outstanding prospect.

This really puts into perspective how much the game has changed between then and now. Just look at this summer when Arsenal’s Ashley Cole, also a defender, was demanding £80, 000 a week and eventually, and by all reports reluctantly, settled for £55, 000. Two players, at not too dissimilar junctures of their career, 17 years and several worlds apart. In what other industry on earth would there be an occupation where workers got a 7, 000 % hike in wages in such a short space of time? And then we wonder why football’s getting out of hand. Makes you think.