Has a Springbok turned rugby into soccer?

Johan Goosen, the Springbok utility back who retired at 24, could be the man that turns rugby into soccer.

According to two prominent French dailies, RugbyRama and Midi Olympique, Montpellier president Mohed Altrad is ready to fund a massive contract buyout of R22 million.

Goosen dominated world rugby headlines in late 2016 when he controversially skipped out of his Racing 92 contract, which he had extended to 2020, by announcing his “retirement”.

Racing were predictably furious and threatened a case of fraud against the former Cheetahs player, who’s currently farming in the Eastern Cape.

The club alleged at the time that he had produced “phoney” documentation to justify not fulfilling his obligations.

However, Montpellier’s continued interest in him throughout the saga suggests Goosen has just been holding out for them to reach an agreement with Racing.

Should the transfer go through, the economic landscape of rugby will surely change.

While European rugby is flush with lots of money, clubs generally honor player contracts and only start negotiating close to the end of those agreements in most cases.

That practice might be at an end after this.

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