So it seems like Liverpool aren’t too impressed with the package Bayern Munich put together to sign Sadio Mane. In fact, they think it’s a “joke”.
The forward seems to be the number one target for the German side, who could yet lose Robert Lewandowski this summer. Mane would be something of a replacement and the Bavarians want to take advantage of the fact he has a year remaining on his deal, leaving the Reds in a precarious position.
They offered an initial £23.5m, with additional add-ons of around £6.5m to take the total close to £30m. That is less than Liverpool signed him for, but the player’s want to leave may yet force their hand. However they won’t be letting him go on the cheap and they’ve taken issue with some of the add-ons.
They claim they would be nearly impossible to achieve. The most eye raising being a bonus that would only be paid if Sadio Mane won the Ballon d’Or on three occasions – he currently has none. Bayern would also have to scoop a hat trick of Bundesliga titles, along with European trophies, for other bonus payments to be activated.
As a result it looks as if the German side will be heading back to the negotiation table. Liverpool chiefs have told the club not to bother returning unless their valuation of Mane, which is north of £40m, is met.
Transfers are often compiled of bonus payments, which helps get the initial fee down. However some of the structures and offers can often be bizarre. As can some of the clauses players add to their own contracts. We take a look at a few of the more surprising conditions.
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Liverpool get their own back
Back in the summer of 2013 the Reds had to fend off interest in Luis Suarez from domestic rivals Arsenal. A rumoured clause was in the Uruguayan’s contract that saw the Gunners bid £40m + £1 – a move that backfired on them. Nevertheless the bad blood remained.
So much so that when the Reds signed Roberto Firmino they included a €98million release clause in the Brazilian’s contract “if the interested club is not Arsenal.” It is as if the forward knew of the ill feeling because he’s continued to score against the north Londoners – bagging a hat-trick in 2018.
Firmino also pockets handsome goal bonus – allegedly earning £25,000 for each of his first five goals a season, £45,000 for his goals between six and 10, £65,000 from 11 to 15, and £85,000 from then on.
No fly zone
Arsenal completed a coup when they signed Dennis Bergkamp from Inter Milan back in the 1990s. They perhaps didn’t know they’d added a club legend however. That said, the Dutchman was rarely present for European away days.
Daily Mirror)
Why? Well he had a fear of flying and had a clause inserted into his Arsenal contract which meant he didn’t have to get on a plane. The decision cost him £100,000, but clearly he felt that was good value.
He said previously: “I’ve got this problem and I have to live with it. I can’t do anything about it, it is a psychological thing and I can’t explain it. The Dutch FA has been sympathetic, so have have Arsenal, so far. I am considering psychiatric help. I can’t fly. I just freeze. I get panicky. It starts the day before, when I can’t sleep.”
Party, party, party
Ronaldinho may have been arguably the finest player of his generation, leading Barcelona to the Champions League in 2006. His flicks and tricks saw him earn celebrity status, staring in adverts with Nike.
However the Brazilian also loved a night out. So much so that he had a clause included in his Flamengo contract that allowed him to go out until the early hours at least twice a week without any knock on affects.
Bein Sports reported that failure to agree to such a clause would’ve been a deal breaker for the World Cup winner.
Suarez bites back
This one remains shrouded in mystery. There were rumours that Barcelona included a no biting clause into Suarez’s contract when they signed him in 2014. The forward had infamously bit Branislav Ivanovic during a game at Anfield in 2013.
Then, at the 2014 World Cup, he took a bite out of Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini, but that didn’t stop the Catalans pursuing the deal and, whilst they made their expectations clear, the club’s president denied any biting clause.
Josep Maria Bartomeu said: “No, no. We didn’t rethink this decision and we told Luis after the bite. He knows he did wrong. He apologized. That’s very important for us. That means he knows that he did not do things properly — and of course, coming to our city, coming to our club, there’s going to be a way of managing Luis Suarez.”
Ox’s short stay
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is now at Liverpool, but before that spent seven years at Arsenal. He wasn’t always a started though which saw questions asked of then manager Arsene Wenger.
It later became known that his boyhood club Southampton were earning each time Oxlade-Chamberlain played for a prolonged period. It has since emerged that Southampton would earn £10,000 every time he played 20 minutes or more.
That meant the midfielder was often coming on beyond the 70 minute mark to allow him to make an impact, but without the club feeling any financial affects.
No space for Schwarz
Stefan Schwarz moved to Sunderland for £4m back in 1999 but the Black Cats made it clear that the player would not be heading beyond earth’s atmosphere.
Sunderland’s chief executive, John Fickling told BBC Radio 5 Live at the time: “One of Schwarz’s advisers has, indeed, got one of the places on the commercial flights. And we were worried that he may wish to take Stefan along with him. So we thought we’d better get things tied up now rather than at the time of the flight.
“It was a reasonable request. We would normally get insurance cover for the player throughout the length of his contract. And like a lot of insurance policies there are certain exclusions, such as dangerous activities. At the end of the day we are protecting the club, really. It was a little bit of a light-hearted moment during protracted negotiations.
“But one day it could become be quite acceptable to put such clauses in various contracts.”
Daily Mirror)
Ruddock’s weight clause
Neil Ruddock moved to Crystal Palace from a free transfer from West Ham in 2000, but included a weight clause on the advice of Harry Redknapp. Former Eagles chairman Simon Jordan stipulated that Ruddock would be fined every time he went over his ‘recommended weight’, 99.8kg.
He wrote in his autobiography: “On approaching West Ham I discovered he was a free transfer, although he did have a weighty salary – which was not the only weighty thing about him. Harry Redknapp, the West Ham manager at the time, told me to put in a weight clause.
“So I decided to put a 10 per cent penalty on the contract we were proposing to offer him if he was over the recommended weight of 99.8kg, which by the way was still frigging huge.” Ruddock would, according to reports, be fined eight times.
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