You could say the same about Lloris, Walker, Verts, Toby, Eriksen, Dele, Wanayma, Dembele and Dier from our starting 11. Do you think they play for free?
Bizarre comment
Walker has been with us since he was 19 and is effectively a 'youth' product as much as Bentaleb was. Dele and Dier are also in the same bracket, except they seem to have an affection for the club as we gave them opportunities.
Not one of those players was brought here under the bribe of money. I see you've also complete omitted Rose and Kane from that line up, too.
To break it down further, there are intertwining relationships that knit the squad together:
Alderweireld and Wanyama both played together at Southampton.
Alderweireld, Eriksen and Vertonghen all played together at Ajax.
Dele, Rose, Walker, Dier and Kane all play together internationally.
Alderweireld, Dembele and Vertonghen all play together internationally.
(there's probably more, but that's just off the top of my head)
Essentially, the main bulk of the squad can be linked into groups who have pre-existing relationships - this was an important factor in the teams that SAF successfully built.
People want to feel part of something, and to feel like they are part of a collective - I don't think players will be much different. I think it's blatantly important to have youth products in the team who catalyse that passion with what they love about the club, then the other 'relationships' help knit the team together.
There's no one person in that City lineup who gives a damn about the badge, and why would they? They weren't brought in for opportunities, they were bribed with sign-on fees and salaries, so that's how they base their loyalty and performances.
After all, they just saw how the one key player who cared about the team was treated (Hart) when Pep came in.