Transfer fee!!! Ever heard of this? Well, if you are just an Indian football fan, this must be something relatively new for you. But, if you follow European football well, you will be aware of the advantages it has for clubs who get a fee in return.
To clear more, the amount a club pays to the parent club for acquiring its player is the transfer fee. This payment happens while the player is still in contract with the parent club. It helps the parent club to get compensation for its player without losing him for free. The club can then invest the fee in buying a new player.
Transfer Fees: Indian Football Scenario
A few days back Hugo Boumous announced his exit from FC Goa, only for the club to rubbish this rumour later. In the night Times of India confirmed that Mumbai City FC has agreed to pay a whopping 1.6 crores transfer fee. Although, this was a release clause that Mumbai decided to pay.
To further clarify, a release clause, unlike the transfer fee is decided in advance when a player goes into a contract with the club. The new club can then pay this amount and get the player without getting into negotiations with the parent club. For this reason, release clauses are higher than what the actual transfer fee will be.
We witnessed a similar instance in European football back in 2017. It happened when French Club Paris Saint Germain agreed to pay a record-breaking €222M release clause for the then Barcelona player Neymar. The transfer fees and release clauses increased massively after that. Clubs have been cautious not to let their players go cheaply. The clubs now gain huge profits by selling their players.
As per the Indian football scenario, transfer fees weren’t much relevant before Mumbai City agreed to pay this historical figure. Before this, most of the players went for free by mutually agreeing to terminate the contract with their parent club. It resulted in clubs losing some of their key players without any compensation in return.
For The Future – Transfer Fees in Indian Football
With Hugo Boumous being the first big-money transfer in Indian Football, it is undoubtedly going to change the way transfers happen in India. Clubs will tie down their players to multi-year contracts. They will also demand reasonable transfer fees for their big players in case any club wishes to buy them. We may also see massive release clauses added to the players’ contract.
Here is how transfer fees and release clauses would help the clubs in India: 1) It will help the club to get an amount for their players without losing them for free. It would enable clubs to buy another player from the money recouped. 2) With football just starting to gain popularity, it is a challenge for clubs to survive and be financially stable. With the transfer fees received, clubs can keep that amount for the future or get a player in less and use the remaining amount for further needs.
We look forward to clubs adopting this policy soon and tying down their players for longer terms. It may take time but will surely be a game-changer for the clubs in India.
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