Wycombe RoyalForbury LionThe Secret Footballer, in one of his books said the following, which I was surprised about.Snowflake Royal So Aluko will cost us something like £750k to £1.5m over the next year.
I'd say that puts his price at around -£500k.
Ie, if it got him off the wage bill, I'd pay a club £500k to sign him and we'd still come out ahead on the deal.
If a player leaves and hasn't instigated the move theirselves i.e. asked for a transfer, then the selling club has to pay up the players contract in full. Now, I imagine there would be room for negotiation in this if it is in the players interests to move e.g. new club gives him more money/signing on fee/longer contract/more chance of playing, but if the player digs his heels in that means the club will take a hit to the finances if the transfer fee is below the cost of paying up the players contract.... maybe we'll end up paying him off over a number of years? (There was a story about Robbie Fowler still being Leeds Utds top earner years after he left).
As a player, getting your old contract paid off is great but you can then ask for a signing on bonus and a new longer contract, so it's a win all round, unless the club signing you is based in an undesirable location.
That is exactly why very few players put in formal transfer requests.
I have wondered in the past what one of these looks like.
Is there a downloadable form they fill in their name and club in the gaps ?
Do players scribble ‘I want to go’ on the back of an envelope and tuck it under the wipers on the manager’s car ?
Do the more sensitive players write long essays explaining their motivation and imploring the manager to let them go and fulfill their destiny.
In similar vein is there an actual ‘transfer list’ ? Is it pinned up on a wall. Or does the manager keep it tucked away in a drawer ?
Have these adapted to modern technology ? Is a Whasapp message formal enough to be considered a transfer request ? Can injury lists be spreadsheets ?