But it's not quite the same. With players below a certain age (I think 17 may be the cut off point), they are free to move clubs without any fee. All the original club gets is compensation that relates to the cost of developing the player, with no componant in it relating to how good the player actually is or how good he has the potential to be. In the case of Grimmer (great name, by the way - the future's bright, the future's Grimmer), it's thought to amount to £200,000. If he ever plays a first team game for us, he'll be worth at least five times that. If he was a year older and under contract, we wouldn't get him at anything like that and Aberdeen don't even have the option of saying 'no' or holding out for the best deal they can. At least with Bosman transfers, young adult players (under24, I think) whose contracts have elapsed move for a fee agreed by an tribunal, rather than free - a move brought in precisely to protect smaller clubs from being left with nothing. It is nice that we're on the gain end of this, but it doesn't make it fair. And by the way, credit to Al Fayed and Fulham that when we gained Chris Smalling on a similar basis, be made a voluntary goodwill payment to the non-league club (forgotten which one, sorry) we bought him from. I know they came back and asked for more when we sold him on, and grumbled when we wouldn't pay it, but let's not forget that Fulham went above and beyond what was required. Many clubs wouldn't have done even that.
Good Morning captain The club Criss Smalling came from was Maidstone united,and i believe the good will payment was £100,000. On the broader subject of transfers,it would be an advantage for a club like ours,to say bid or buy someone like Jorden Rhodes 4/5m with a move on clause of say 30% to his previous club. It would make more sense than to sell him to a bigger club for maybee 1/or 2 mil more,this way all parties would benefit.
Maidstone - of course it was. Thanks. I agree about sell-on clauses being a good idea for all concerned. That said, big clubs sometimes find loopholes - like player exchanges - to avoid having to pay up. I still say £4-5m is way too small to tempt Huddersfield to sell Rhodes this window, even with a sell-on clause. If we want him, we'll have to make an offer of nearly twice that amount.
Have to agree with Captain, January is always a sellers' market and even more so with Rhodes. Huddersfield are pushing for promotion and come summer time if they achieve promotion Rhodes will probably have scored 30-40 goals. Every club in the Premier League will be interested. The ball is in their court and they will try get as much as they can for him. The competition for his signature will surely drive his price up too.
Step in with a good offer now and let him stay at Huddersfield till the seasons end. Obviously a proviso,re injuries.
