10 Footballers Who Claimed It Definitely Wasn't All About The Money

6. Lucas Neill

The former Blackburn defender reportedly turned his back on a move to Liverpool back in 2007 in order to sign for West Ham United: denying in the process that his move to London was money orientated, though somewhat inevitably this seems to be the overall opinion from everyone in football to this day. The Australian again fell back on that old lie of "footballing reasons" for his decision, despite the fact that West Ham had previously been taken over by a cash rich consortium and were offering him more money. He also alleged that Liverpool had not made him "feel welcome" and that boss Rafael Benitez had not even spoken to him, to add a further excuse to his search for money. Neill went on to play for Everton following two seasons at West Ham - where he unthinkably demanded another £20,000 a week to sign a contract extension that they smartly balked at - before taking a huge step down in terms of football quality and standard by joining oil-rich United Arab Emirates sides Al Jazira and Al Wasl, increasing his economical growth further "for footballing reasons." He last played for Watford and recently went on loan to Doncaster Rovers, but the Australian, at 36 years of age, can safely retire with a nice pension to fall back on.