Erlings might be earning but Law played for love

ON the day when Manchester and football lost a bona fide legend, a modern-day striking colossus - who plies his goalscoring trade in the very same area - signed a 10-year deal worth in excess of "£200million."

- ANDY DUNN

A lot of the discussion about Erling Haaland's remarkable new contract centred on its worth.

That is the way of modern football, that is the way of modern sport. The bucks matter, the bucks are big news.

And that is why the passing away of Denis Law is more than the end of a wonderful player's life.

It is another staging post on football's journey towards the end of an era when money was largely irrelevant, when it was only maverick talent that captured the imagination.

They had a few quid to buy a drink or three in that era, for sure. They were headline news, for sure.

Ladies and gentleman, I give you George Best, one of the Holy Trinity. And in his time at Manchester City, United and Torino, Law probably - hopefully - made a good few quid.