By Ewah Chika.

Alexandre Dimitri Song Billong might be 28 which is the age most footballers hit their peak but that cannot be said of the defensive midfielder who appears to have regressed since moving to Barcelona four years ago from Arsenal for £15 million. It is laughable that the player who recently joined Rubin Kazan on loan on Monday has a £63 million release clause in his contract with Barcelona which shows the high expectation Barcelona had before signing him.

"I'm very happy to come here and be a part of the project being built in Kazan.

"The club hopes to establish itself as the biggest team in Russian football in the next four years and I hope to make a great impact towards that," Song told the club's official TV channel after signing on loan on Monday .

No disrespect for Rubin Kazan but it is disheartening that Song at this point in his career will not only be trying to revive his career in the Russian league but also in Rubin Kazan. Rubin do not even at present belong to one of the top clubs in Russia as only the likes of CSKA Moscow and Zenith Saint Petersburg are the only two that have that European recognition.

The Cameroonian began his career in French Ligue 1 club Bastia before moving to Arsenal on loan in 2005 and making the move permanent in the following season for £1 million. The midfielder became known for his versatility and ability to play as an attacking midfielder , defensive midfielder and central defender making 31 league appearances in his second season in Ligue 1 for Bastia. The rise of the defensive midfielder was gradual as he played on loan at Charlton Athletic before making his breakthrough in the 2008/2009 season. Subsequently Song became the perfect central midfield partner for Cesc Fabregas as he adequately complimented the more attacking and less physical Fabregas.

Song helped Arsenal fans get over the loss of ageing Gilberto Silva as his performance was over the top. His form continued to improve even after the departure of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona In 2011, altering his game to become more adventitious, pushing forward and providing assists for the forward players. That season, Song played impressively as both an anchorman and also as a playmaking midfielder, that he ended with an impressive 12 assists which is applauding considering his position was that of an anchorman. This suddenly alerted many clubs who all made enquiries regarding his signing in the summer. Although his form was impressive, it was surprising to see him force a move to Barcelona where he would be back up to Sergio Busquets, agreeing a five year contract worth wages of £70,000 a week.

"There are different reasons, Song was sold. I don't want to come out with that now, but it happened . Every case is individual and maybe one day I will explain everything.

"We are left with that decision and now we have to face it and deal with it in the correct way," Arsene Wenger said after confirming his sale to Barcelona.

At Barcelona, the midfielder was thoroughly exposed as he soon found out the huge difference between the Spanish La Liga and English Premiership. The move was a wrong move by both parties as Song found it difficult to step-up and improve his play as he was playing with world best players like Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez to mention but a few. The Cameroonian failed to influence the game in Barce and soon became the scape goat when things did not go according to plans. Song relied so much on his physical attributes and failed to realise that the game in La Liga was slower, more tactical and more in line with technical players. In two years, the Cameroonian made only 36 league appearances with most of them as a substitute. To halt his progressive decline, the midfielder quickly sought a loan move to West Ham in 2014 where he improved under Sam Allardycee but quickly regressed towards the end of the season together with that of the team as West Ham slumped. Song was again retained the following season but his form of the previous season was never regained as new Croatian manager Slaven Bilic preferred Cheikhou Kouyate as the team's defensive midfielder. Song remained on the fringes of action and rarely got game time last season and was deemed surplus to requirements this season by Bilic which is the reason he wasn't signed on a permanent deal this summer.

Song has clearly learnt the hard way that joining the best team doesn't necessarily mean progressing one's career. To sign for a new team, a player should study the pattern and style of game of the proposed team so as to decipher how his game can be improved in the new team. Song's mistake of exiting Arsenal in 2012 still haunts him till date and one is left confused how joining Rubin Kazan might help him get back to his best. For now until proved otherwise , Alex Song remains one who promised a lot growing up but fulfilled little.

Source

http://mailtelegraph..co.ke/2016/07/is-alex-song-another-one-who-failed-to.html?m=1

Its greediness dat killed his game.....