Release clauses

[ladbroke]

Looks like FIFA and FIFPro have agreed some new measure starting 1st January 2027.

Release clauses are to be mandatory now in every contract worldwide.
Currently it seems only Spain have it mandatory.
But then when they have players on £1B release fee it makes a mockery of it.

Also it seems now it is mandatory that players will now get 5% of any transfer fee regardless.

More money for the players on top of stupid wages.

I wonder if the clauses are for new contracts or ones have to be put in to old contracts...
If its new contracts from 1st January, wonder how many teams try to buy more this summer instead of waiting until Jamuary.

 

[TadB]

Looks like FIFA and FIFPro have agreed some new measure starting 1st January 2027.

Release clauses are to be mandatory now in every contract worldwide.
Currently it seems only Spain have it mandatory.
But then when they have players on £1B release fee it makes a mockery of it.

Also it seems now it is mandatory that players will now get 5% of any transfer fee regardless.

More money for the players on top of stupid wages.

I wonder if the clauses are for new contracts or ones have to be put in to old contracts...
If its new contracts from 1st January, wonder how many teams try to buy more this summer instead of waiting until Jamuary.

I wonder how many players will seek to remain and engineer a move next season!

 

[Raise The Roof]

Is the player 5% cut being awarded to the player, so that the player funds the agents fee, rather than the club doing so?
Or doesnt it work that way?

 

[Jay Bee]

Why wouldn't you just put a £1bn release clause in every player's contract? Who does it help to put in a lower clause, apart from a wantaway player?

 

[ladbroke]

Why wouldn't you just put a £1bn release clause in every player's contract? Who does it help to put in a lower clause, apart from a wantaway player?

Seems like both parties have to agree to the sum so if the player doesnt agree, he wont sign.
So we can't just put £1B in them all.

 

[Banana]

Why wouldn't you just put a £1bn release clause in every player's contract? Who does it help to put in a lower clause, apart from a wantaway player?

Because players and their agents won't agree to it. Rightfully IMHO

It's taking the power over players away from clubs.

 

[Jim Rourke]

I believe I heard somewhere the higher the release clause, the higher the wages.

I guess it is simply an easy tool to drive up the wages

 

[rebus]

We won’t be able to fleece idiots like Newcastle in the future.

 

[GABS]

It's about time too. Finally, an end to modern slavery for those poor lads scraping a living out of being an elite footballer.

 

[jbee]

I don't think this will make any great difference to anything. After all there is nothing in the current rules to prevent players insisting on a release clause.

 

[Jay Bee]

@ladbroke @Banana fair enough

It can't be good for us to be putting a limit on the upside from improving our own players.

I suppose we'll have to work to persuade players that they'll increase in value with us to justify a higher release clause, and maybe renew contracts more often. We can point to the fact that we haven't stood in players' way when the fee is right over many years, even if the "right fee" isn't written in the contract.

I reckon it's hard to imagine we'd have got £28m + £5m add ons for Watkins three years after signing him from Exeter... Was he still on his original contract? Surely any clause agreed with him at the outset would have been lower than that...Just one example.

 

[ladbroke]

@ladbroke @Banana fair enough

It can't be good for us to be putting a limit on the upside from improving our own players.

I suppose we'll have to work to persuade players that they'll increase in value with us to justify a higher release clause, and maybe renew contracts more often. We can point to the fact that we haven't stood in players' way when the fee is right over many years, even if the "right fee" isn't written in the contract.

I reckon it's hard to imagine we'd have got £28m + £5m add ons for Watkins three years after signing him from Exeter... Was he still on his original contract? Surely any clause agreed with him at the outset would have been lower than that...Just one example.

Bet Wissa (and even Isak) would love to have had this in place last year.
But then, if they're to gain 5% of the fee, they'd also appreciate higher fees too.

 

[jlove]

My understanding is that a Release Clause has the figure at which the club to whom the player is under contract cannot refuse to give the player permission to speak with another club if they’re prepared to pay it (presumably in written legal jargon). It would be one element of the agent’s negotiations for the original contract. It’s not an RRP.

 

[Edmundo]

The overwhelming majority of professional footballers are employed by clubs who depend on a healthy transfer system to pay the extraordinary wages they receive. They undermine the system at their peril, imho.

 

[damsgard.szn]

So it’s then out of our hands to keep players…

 

[Argus]

Just centres more power around the top clubs. Players won’t join us if they deem our suggested release clause too high, making it harder to obtain and/or hold on to players. For top clubs, they can put any release clause they’d like because the player is already where they wanna be

 

[Jay Bee]

Just centres more power around the top clubs. Players won’t join us if they deem our suggested release clause too high, making it harder to obtain and/or hold on to players. For top clubs, they can put any release clause they’d like because the player is already where they wanna be

Maybe so. It might help us buy from further down the food chain though. You'd imagine a lot of young championship players wouldn't necessarily have 20m+ release clauses, especially if they've suddenly become good.

 

[Jay Bee]

The overwhelming majority of professional footballers are employed by clubs who depend on a healthy transfer system to pay the extraordinary wages they receive. They undermine the system at their peril, imho.

This is true.
People thought the bosmen ruling and subsequent tinkering would be the end of the transfer system. It's not worked out that way. I think players have the option to buy out their contract and force a mode in some situations? Again doesn't really seem to happen.

Players outside of the elite clubs are happy to move for a fee - at any level it's risky to run down your contract if you suddenly get injured or have a bad season.

 

[Jezybee]

Gut feeling, that the past decade has taught us not to trust with respect to football, is that it will depress all but the very elite 0.1% of the transfer market.
Players joining clubs and negotiating relatively modest release clauses to facilitate their next step. Don’t think keeping 5% of transfer fee is much of an incentive if the player can earn double that in wages within a year at a new club.
As Edmundo points out, will make it more difficult for clubs (us & vast majority of clubs) who rely on player trading as a significant proportion of income to offer the lucrative contracts players currently enjoy.
There’s only a finite number of players who can play for PSG, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Man Utd, Man City, Real Madrid & Barcelona

 

[davewfilms]

Saves us being dicked about all summer bu likes of Man U Newcastle.
Just wondering about current players under contract if we can’t agree a release fee with them ?read can be set by a tribunal?
Which could cause friction between club and player.
Unless I have got it wrong

 

[ladbroke]

I actually feel for the lower league clubs who could sell players for millions (Ivan Toney, for example, from Peterborough) but now have to put a clause in their contract meaning a couple of good seasons and they're off for peanuts instead of millions.

 

[Gee Bee]

Doesn’t having a release clause simply trigger an auction price on a player. The release amount doesn’t mean that is the price sold at if they’re are many suitors, surely?

 

[jlove]

Doesn’t having a release clause simply trigger an auction price on a player. The release amount doesn’t mean that is the price sold at if they’re are many suitors, surely?

A 'release clause’ is not a fixed set of words. When a club and player agree on having a release clause, then their agents and lawyers will negotiate a set of words that will satisfy both parties as far as possible. It seems, from what is dribbled out, many depend on multiple conditions, like: if the club is relegated; if another club agrees to pay in full the stated amount; only for a specific time window, like the first 10 days of July; depending on whether the bid is from a club in the same league or not; the amount can be by season, reducing until the end of the contract; etc.

So they can be as creative as lawyers can be and I think your example must be common – that the club will want minimal restrictions on the stated price being exclusive to the first club that meets it.

 

[Jezybee]

Doesn’t having a release clause simply trigger an auction price on a player. The release amount doesn’t mean that is the price sold at if they’re are many suitors, surely?

Not sure it would start an auction? If there is a release clause price that is known, everyone who wants to sign the player offers that amount and the player chooses the best deal / where he wants to go.
Situation where the clause says “player must go to highest bidder” has potential to get messy. Imagine a club bids more but player has a better deal at another club or doesn’t want to go to the highest bidder but to another that has triggered the initial release clause.

 

[ladbroke]

A 'release clause’ is not a fixed set of words. When a club and player agree on having a release clause, then their agents and lawyers will negotiate a set of words that will satisfy both parties as far as possible. It seems, from what is dribbled out, many depend on multiple conditions, like: if the club is relegated; if another club agrees to pay in full the stated amount; only for a specific time window, like the first 10 days of July; depending on whether the bid is from a club in the same league or not; the amount can be by season, reducing until the end of the contract; etc.

So they can be as creative as lawyers can be and I think your example must be common – that the club will want minimal restrictions on the stated price being exclusive to the first club that meets it.

Thats actually a good point.
The release is a full upfront payment. If clubs want to structure the deal, spread payments etc then surely release clause doesnt come in to it.

 

[jlove]

Thats actually a good point.
The release is a full upfront payment. If clubs want to structure the deal, spread payments etc then surely release clause doesnt come in to it.

It will all be in the wording of the contract. ISTR Man U had a situation a while ago when they said they’d meet the release number but only wanted to pay in a number of equal payments, not all in one hit. I can’t remember the detail or who the player was but it was a topic of discussion at the time.

 

[hobbsy]

It will all be in the wording of the contract. ISTR Man U had a situation a while ago when they said they’d meet the release number but only wanted to pay in a number of equal payments, not all in one hit. I can’t remember the detail or who the player was but it was a topic of discussion at the time.

They'd have to be explicit as to how many payments would be acceptable, otherwise someone could offer £1 for the next 70 million years!

 

[ruislip bee]

They'd have to be explicit as to how many payments would be acceptable, otherwise someone could offer £1 for the next 70 million years!

That's Phil at work again!