2. Do we set figures, such as release clauses, for prized assets like Deji and George, or is it simply a case of receiving a significant bid?
I don’t particularly know for sure, and that would have been a really good question to ask Jez. My first thought is that there will be a number a buying club has to hit, but whether that’s written into a contract or understood between the club, player and agent is another matter.
My understanding was that Ethan Erhahon’s number was around £1.2 million in the summer before he actually moved. There were obviously things that stopped a move from happening then, but that figure was fairly common knowledge. We wouldn’t necessarily know those numbers for our current players, although the players and their agents may know what the club would be looking for.
I don’t think there would necessarily be a specific release figure in everybody’s contract because the club wouldn’t want to limit what they could get. For instance, we signed Deji for £120,000. If we’d put a £1.2 million release clause in his contract, a buying club would know that, however well he did, they would only have to pay £1.2 million.
I think we probably shy away from a fixed contractual number. You might say to Deji, who is a Chelsea fan, that if Chelsea came in with £10 million, it would be a no-brainer. If Cardiff came in with £3 million, we’d probably try to resist it. That conversation could happen relatively regularly between the club, player and agent, particularly as performances improve or dip.
That number obviously moved with Ethan. I believe the eventual figure was £750,000 including bonuses, and I think the bonuses relating to appearances and promotion would have been hit last season. I’d therefore see it as quite a fluid situation, with what the player wants coming into it as well.
With Jack Moylan, it’s believed the upfront fee was £3 million, with a couple of million pounds in potential add-ons. Was that written into his contract? Probably not, because when we signed him from Shelbourne for £50,000, we hadn’t sold a player for £1 million. We might have been thinking how brilliant it would be to do that, but if we had, we’d have been at the mercy of vultures in the summer.
If we’d put a £750,000 release clause in his contract, we’d have cost ourselves £2.25 million upfront. So I’d say there is a number, but it’s fluid. I wouldn’t think we sign a player, decide what his number is and leave it fixed throughout his time here, because things change.
Comments Welcome!