- the following is a sponsored article

The world of betting gets bigger and bigger every year. It is no longer the simple full time result or accumulator that people have a go at. There are literally thousands of options when it comes to placing a bet on a game of football. You can try and predict the correct score, the first goalscorer, the last goalscorer, the half time result or even the amount of corners... and every possible combination of all of these and many more.

Is Loyalty Dead?

In modern day football, the one-club man is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Gone are the days of Ryan Giggs spending his entire career at Manchester United, Matt Le Tissier at Southampton, Paolo Maldini at AC Milan, Jack Charlton at Leeds United and Steven Gerrard at Liverpool.

The game has changed and players tend to switch clubs more often, even if they have only recently kissed the badge or committed their future by putting pen to paper. As a result, its becoming more and more popular to bet on transfers, even though some players are tied down to long term deals. In fact, a player leaving a club shortly after signing a long term contract has happened so often that for many, it has even become a direct indication that they may soon leave for pastures new.

So, let's take a look at three of the most high-profile cases of professional footballers who signed long term deals, only to quickly change their minds – including one case that took less than two weeks!

Luka Jović

After an impressive loan spell, Eintrachet Frankfurt were able to secure the service of Luka Jović on a long term deal in April 2019. The deal was set to tie down the talented Serbian at the German outfit until June 2023.

But when Real Madrid come calling, it's difficult to say no. The temptation proved to be too great and Jović swapped Germany for the Spanish capital in a deal worth a reported £60 million.

Upon his departures, his contract had run for less than two months.

Luis Suarez

In December 2013, Luis Suarez signed a new four and a half year contract with Liverpool, which would keep him at the club until 2018. The new deal made him the highest paid player in the club's history.

Upon signing the contract, the Uruguayan International announced his delight at having secured his "future for the long term". This finally put months of speculation regarding the strikers future to rest.

However, the honeymoon period was not to last long. Spanish giants, Barcelona swooped in with a club record £75 million deal following the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It did not take long for Suarez to jump at the chance to leave Merseyside in order to join the likes of Messi and Neymar in the North Eastern Mediterranean coast of mainland Spain.

By the time he left, his long term contract had only run for seven months.

Thiago Silva

It was a long summer for AC Milan. They spent the majority of the 2012 summer transfer window standing their ground and rejecting numerous offers from Paris Saint-Germain for Thiago Silva. The Brazilian International had established himself as one of the best defenders in the game while plying his trade for the Rossoneri and they looked all but certain to keep him after the club convinced the player to sign a new long term deal keeping him in Italy until 2017.

In a shocking twist, Silva performed an astonishing U-turn and decided to move to the French capital in a £31 million deal instead.

It took twelve days...

Take The Good With The Bad

So if the bad news is that loyalty is dead, the good news is that you have one more opportunity to put your money where your mouth is and predict who is going where, and when!