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Contracts and Switching Clubs

Discussion in 'Manchester United' started by cytrax, Aug 18, 2017.

  1. cytrax

    cytrax Well-Known Member

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    In our daily work lives, especially as contractors, we sign and break contracts all the time. Just because I signed a one year contract with Bank A doesn't mean I wouldn't leave after 6 months for better offer from Bank B. Of course these are peanuts contracts but even CEOs at the top level do it for mega contracts.

    Obviously transferring this type of ideology to football would introduce untold chaos. Someone will always tell your players that they would pay more which would completely destabilize the market as players jump ships at will.

    But if we take a little step back, should a club really be able to dictate where a player goes? Shouldn't the player have the ultimate say in where there want to play? I'm looking at the case of Diego Costa and I have to say that I somewhat get his argument and feel for him. But what should be the solution to transfer shenanigans? Coutinho is another situation heading in that direction.

    Are clubs really encouraging players to sign long term deals with their negotiating tactics which often puts a player's wish in jeopardy? Looking at another case - Morata. Madrid completely jeopardized his wish. I am sure as hell he would never have chosen Chelsea if he had his way. Heck, dude even dyed his hair red.

    I don't have the answers on the best way forward, but I see this thread of players being used as a pawn being challenged by various players in the near future. Or perhaps they should insert clauses in the contracts that they sign to protect themselves. That would be one of the solutions.
     
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  2. Swarbs

    Swarbs Well-Known Member
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    That's not really true - if you unilaterally break a contract without just cause then you are in breach of the contract and can be sued for the costs to complete the work. So if you have agreed to work with Bank A for a year and will be paid £100k, then you leave after six months and the job you were hired to do ends up costing them £120k as a result you can be liable for the extra £20k of costs. The difference is that most employment contracts will have a notice period and release clause, and the bank won't have paid several million quid to your last employer for your services.

    Footballers are different, in that they do transfer for fees, and thus contracts won't have general release clauses other than those which stipulate the contract can be ended on payment of a specific fee. Also footballers, particularly at the top level, are more unique than most employees. A few hundred people could probably do an adequate job of delivering an IT, construction or other employment contract, but it's hard to argue that a footballer is quite so replaceable.

    I do sympathise with the players to a degree, and think that clubs should be more flexible. I think a lot of Liverpool's current problems with Coutinho stem from them choosing to issue a press release saying he's not for sale at any price, rather than trying to work with the player and find an amicable solution when he obviously wanted them to at least consider letting him move. They've used the fact he signed a new contract recently to largely ignore his wishes, which is a fairly blunt stance to take.

    That said, no one forces players to sign five or six year contracts. They do it because it is how to get the highest salary. Clubs will pay players with any resale value massive amounts only when they commit to a long term deal. If a player really wants flexibility, they should only sign a one or two year deal, or include clauses to let them move, and accept a lower salary as a result. That's what Suarez did, and he got his dream move six months later. Or do what RVP did at Arsenal, and don't sign the new contract just because it has more zeros on the end.

    The simple fact is that players (and their agents) willingly sign long contracts without release clauses in order to get their hands on as much cash as possible. Costa signed a five year contract in 2014, if he wasn't sure he would want to stay that long he should have asked for a shorter duration, or inserted a release clause, and taken less money. I appreciate that puts him at risk if he's injured, but it's not like he'd be penniless as a result.
     
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  3. luvgonzo

    luvgonzo Pisshead

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    Clubs also like the long term contracts so that the player has high resale value. It has certainly come to a point where this all needs to be reconsidered and shorter contracts or buy out clauses are inserted.
     
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  4. Swarbs

    Swarbs Well-Known Member
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    They already have mandatory buyout clauses in Spain. Problem is that often just ends up with clubs setting them stupidly high, like Ronaldo and Benzema's reported 1 billion euro clauses. Doesn't necessarily solve the problem if players are willing to have clauses that high in order to get more money when they sign.

    The simple fact is that only the players and their agents can influence the length and release value of their contract. Clubs will always do everything they can to get the contract as long and as restrictive as possible.

    Didn't Coutinho sign a new contract six months ago? The Barca rumours were flying around then, he must have decided he would leave if they came for him in the summer, so why agree a long contract with no restrictions? He could have accepted 20% less wages in exchange for an £80m release clause or similar, and all his problems would be sorted.

    Tbh I think a lot of the problems lie with the agents. They often get a fee which is equivalent to the a proportion of the whole value of the contract, so a six year deal is worth twice as much to them as a three year deal. They also benefit when a player signs a new contract when their old one still has ages to run, as they get another fee straight away.

    Problem is it seems most agents focus so much on the money they can get that they fail to actually advise their clients and consider their best interests. Like Costa's agent apparently negotiating a new contract for him with Chelsea back in Jan when he was in the process of throwing his toys and already angling for a move. Just bizarre.
     
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  5. luvgonzo

    luvgonzo Pisshead

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    I'm sure there are some good agents out there who look after their clients best interests but not many, the majority are in it for the money and will push their clients in the most profitable direction.

    I don't see Coutinho or Van Dijk moving in this window, which goes against everything their agents are telling them. What happens next?
     
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  6. Swarbs

    Swarbs Well-Known Member
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    Next the agent uses the media to damage the relationship between the player and the club to the point at which the club is forced to sell them. Then the agent gets to negotiate a new contract with the new club and gets even more money.

    Although tbh I do expect both those players to move in the end. I think Liverpool will accept an offer from Barca as they won't want to risk Coutinho going the way of Tevez or Odemwingie. That money will be used to get the VVD and Keita deals over the line and probably bring in another player or two.

    Only problem is that whilst that will strengthen the Liverpool squad the new players will arrive late in the window which will disrupt the season. Hence why I think Liverpool should have sat down with the player and agreed a position early on rather than trying to strong arm him and risking it blowing up in their faces.
     
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  7. glazerfodder

    glazerfodder Well-Known Member

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    If a player is being sold against his will he can always refuse to agree personal terms with the new club. Terms of a new contract cannot be forced on the player, but that seems to be the only element of control that a player has over his destination in the modern game. The 'buy-out' fee is quite another thing and is the norm here in Spain, even in the lower leagues, and is simply a figure dreamed up with no formula or logic behind it. As everywhere there is some promising talent in the lower leagues, particularly in the 'B' team system they have here and it seems quite normal to read of a youngster having a buy-out clause in the tens of millions of €.
     
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    Last edited: Aug 19, 2017
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  8. luvgonzo

    luvgonzo Pisshead

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    I think it all happened too late and feel the same way about any possible transfers, there's no way we can be sure they will happen and don't want to end up with no Coutinho and no Keita and VVD.

    I imagine the last part would be of great amusement for you lot though.
     
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  9. Swarbs

    Swarbs Well-Known Member
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    That would be chuckle worthy, although it would be even more amusing if you ended up with no Keita, VVD or anyone else and Coutinho on strike and torpedoing your season before leaving for half the price in Jan.

    A man can dream... ;)

    You are right it's happened a bit too late, although I reckon you could have resolved the Coutinho thing as soon as Barca lost Neymar if you'd been more open in negotiations. Ended up either with Barca failing to meet your price and the player accepting it, or £120m in your pocket and a good three weeks to plan and work out other signings. As it is, the closer it gets to the 31st the less likely it will be a good outcome for Liverpool's season.
     
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  10. cytrax

    cytrax Well-Known Member

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    "I need more money from TV, otherwise Manchester City with its oil will take all these players," Tebas said at the Soccerex conference in Manchester on Wednesday. - http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/41180819

    I agree with Javier Tebas. Oil money is ruining the game with next to zero accountability.
     
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