According to this article the deal with Benfica and he is off. And the loss is fairly big. Burnt Mr Khan's fingers without a doubt. http://www.winnersports.co.uk/done-...stantinos-mitroglou-for-just-5-4million-30110
Nothing unusual about this loss, just add Johnson & Ruiz net outlay 33/35m recouped 10m/12m. But I am dammed sure Khan wont be the looser.
There's an element of truth in the article. However as noted in the Twist in the Transfer Tail thread, Benfica always had an option to buy at the end of his loan. They allegedly paid us 800,000 euros as a loan fee and are paying his wages in full. Since we were already facing FFP sanctions that deal would have attractions to Mr Khan and his cohorts to ensure we didn't remain in the embargo stranglehold - bearing in mind FFP applied to the financial accounts for year 1 in the Championship and offloading Mitroglou falls into year 2 (the current one). Where Mr Khan got his fingers badly burnt was he couldn't renege on the Benfica deal when others were offering £9 -10m for Mitroglou in this January's transfer window.
Benfica might not get it all there own way - option to buy or not. Reports around that Leicester are interested. Source: http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/02/2...tm_source=twitter&utm_content=HITCdeadlineday [The Benfica option is allegedly set at 7m euros. Hopefully that's just the way the foreign press are reporting it and the way the £ is being hammered, it's expressed in the contract in GBP. Regardless, their take up will only apply if there are no higher bids and with the TV bonanza taking hold next season you'd expect something (a little) better from a PL club.]
Just to continue the saga, here's a story about where Mitrog stands wage wise: "Konstantinos Mitroglou must accept a pay cut if he wants to stay at Benfica. The Fulham player, who’s on loan in Portugal until the end of the season, is expected to be permanently signed by the Lisbon club until May, but needs to agree his personal terms first. According to O Jogo, Mitroglou used to earn £1.8m per season at Fulham. He accepted to have his annual salary reduced to £1m to prove himself in the Portuguese league this year. Now, Benfica want him to accept £1.3m per year after they sign him. Benfica will have to use their buying option and spend €7m (£5.5m) on the Fulham striker. The club are completely content to do this, since Mitroglou has 17 goals in 32 games this season and has shown that he is worth this amount. Last week, we covered another story from O Jogo, which said that Leicester could pay Mitroglou much more than any Portuguese club, and the Foxes have been scouting the Greek player. The reported annual salary that Benfica are willing to pay him have raised from £786k to £1.3m since last week’s story, which seems to be a decent update for Mitrogolou to stay at Estádio da Luz. If Leicester were really keen then they could easily trump that figure." There's some credibility with the story in that the Fulham wage they quote accords with the figure bandied around 18 months or so ago.
I can't see us having let him go out on loan without some fee being paid by Benfica and last season by Olympiakos. So we might recoup a bit more then 7Mil but you never know with our incompetent management staff. His transfer has been one mighty cock-up from start to finish, and who was ever responsible should no longer be involved at the club. I would guess if Fulham could persuade the player he'd be better off cash wise at Leicester he'd tell Benfica were to go.
Tony Khan Out !! Strong stories that we had Jordan Rhodes lined up for a trip to Motspur Park when the analytic stepped in. Mitrog's stats (goals, Champions League and so on) ruled: ignoring other issues (injury, match fitness and so on).
It's easy to be wise after the event. I was ecstatic when we signed Mitroglou, and I don't remember anyone else on this board querying the signing at the time. It looked like a brilliant January signing and just what we needed to stay up. I'm not sure that anyone could have forseen the subsequent injuries. Judging by his career stats on Wikipedia, he hadn't missed much football in the previous three seasons before we signed him. I think I'd put this one down as very bad luck rather than incompetence, personally.
The Arsenal have apparently made enquires of us about the 'negotiating terms' for Mitroglou. "Arsene Wenger’s side have allegedly enquired with the Cottagers over a fee for the 28-year-old, who is currently firing in the goals week in week out on loan at Benfica.The Greek international has netted 22 times in 39 appearances for the Portuguese giants, and also grabbed 19 in 33 for Olympiakos last season. A return to Championship Fulham is deemed highly unlikely, and Benfica are reportedly keen to activate a £7m buy-out clause this summer as part of their loan agreement." Source: http://news.ladbrokes.com/football/...ping-close-watch-on-fulhams-benfica-ace.html? Arsene Wenger’s side have allegedly enquired with the Cottagers over a fee for the 28-year-old
It will be interesting to see if we were smart with that Mitroglou deal and put in a break clause on Benfica's option to allow us to sell to the highest bidder (ala Alderweireld). I'd be inclined to think someone (e.g. Crystal Palace, Stoke, Everton) would be happy to pay us £10m+ for such a natural goalscorer.
To be honest if we sold him for £5.5 million, add the £800,000 loan fee from Benfica and the reported £1 million loan fee from Olympiacos last season that's more money recouped than I thought we would get.
Having watched Mitrog lumber around for us, I've been kind of wondering how he would fit in with the Arsenal style of play. However, having watched a few snippets of Benfica games he now appears a lot more mobile and certainly has lost a shed of weight. please log in to view this image Even though they've shown interest in him in the past, still can't see him at the Emirates though. But could see the likes of Palace, West Ham and maybe even Bournemouth (?) stumping up £10m for him (given the TV bonanza money next year).
I see him quite often on the Tv channel's out here and he looks the real deal to be honest. I have to admit to swearing at the TV quite a lot because if he had done for us what he has done over the last 2 seasons on loan we would still be a mid table premiership side. I'd love to know what happened with him during his time with us, you know, the real story. I know Felix was mad as a bicycle but he can't surely not have seen his talent?
That £5.5m is his release clause option and looks like it's all we'll get since reports coming in saying that Mitroglou has turned down the Arsenal, preferring to stay where he is; with Benfica. Source: http://www.theweek.co.uk/arsenal-tr...transfer-news-theo-walcott-heads-for-the-exit
