Tämä on kovasti kiinnostava artikkeli Daily Telegraphista,
tosin mahdottoman pitkä (pahoittelut!):
Ferdinand and the missing £4 million
By Mihir Bose (Filed: 15/11/2002)
Leeds United are highly unlikely to receive the full
£30 million for the sale of Rio Ferdinand to
Manchester United.
For that to happen Manchester United will need to
sweep the board by winning the Champions League,
Premiership and FA Cup Treble plus the Worthington Cup
- not once, but twice in the next five years. Even
ardent Manchester United supporters are not expecting
that to happen.
Telegraph Sport can reveal that Leeds did not receive
£30 million on selling Ferdinand. They agreed £26
million - half when the deal was signed in July and
the other half to be paid by next July.
The remaining £4 million, according to the Leeds
accounts, are dependent "upon the performance of
Manchester United Football Club".
A note in the accounts, where this intriguing
information is provided, does not say what this
performance has to be.
But Telegraph Sport understands that this means United
winning the Treble - with a very small sum allocated
for winning the Worthington Cup - twice within five
years.
It is not unusual for transfer fees to be dependent on
the number of appearances a player makes or the goals
he scores. But this is believed to be the first time a
whole team performance has determined a transfer fee.
Telegraph Sport also understands that when Leeds were
negotiating with Manchester United about the sale of
Ferdinand, Leeds were keen to be able to tell their
fans that he was sold for £30 million. One insider
said: "There needed to be a '3' before the figure."
After a lot of haggling United agreed but set what is
certainly the toughest transfer condition ever.
Until last Sunday Leeds fans should also have been
cheering the fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur. Just a
month after the sale of Ferdinand, Robbie Keane was
sold to Tottenham. Again, contrary to popular belief,
Tottenham did not pay £7 million.
They initially agreed to pay £4 million - half on
signing, half in 12 months. The remaining £3 million
was, say the accounts, "dependent upon the performance
of the player and of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club".
Telegraph Sport understands that one of four
conditions had to be met. Either Keane had to play 10
games or score a dozen goals, or Tottenham had to
achieve 30 points or stay in the Premier League. Last
Sunday, Keane played his 10th match in the defeat
against Sunderland.
The big difference between the two transfers was that
the Manchester United condition came about because
Leeds wanted a headline figure of £30 million for
Ferdinand. In the case of Keane, it was Tottenham who
wanted to spread their payments to take care of
cash-flow problems.
Leeds, themselves, are liable to pay another £4.2
million on players they have bought, "dependent on the
success of the team and individual players". Telegraph
Sport believes that this refers to the signings of
Seth Johnson and Robbie Fowler.
Leeds will not be signing many other players in the
near future. Although the number of players in their
first-team squad has come down from 32 to 27, I
understand that Leeds will be looking to sell another
three when the transfer window opens in January.
Olivier Dacourt and Michael Duberry figure high on the
list. Leeds have also cut back their number of
apprentices to 33, but last year saw the number of
other staff increased from 229 to 246.
Having made a loss of £33.88 million, and with net
assets now down to £1.4 million, Leeds' financial
position could not be much bleaker.
During the last year the club took out a 25-year loan
note of just over £59 million - it cost nearly £1
million in legal and other fees to get the loan. Two
days after the sale of Keane, Leeds paid £4.15 million
in interest. Leeds will have to start paying back the
capital from Sept 2004.
The sale of players is not the only way Leeds get
money. Sky TV, who own just over nine per cent of the
club, have extended their agreement to be the club's
media partners and I understand that this has injected
another £3 million into the club. All this will raise
a lot of questions when Leeds hold their annual
meeting on Nov 29.
Peter Ridsdale, the chairman, who has seen his salary
reduced from £600,000 to £383,000 - two years ago he
got a bonus of £270,000 - is up for re-election.
Normally that would be a formality, now a group of
disaffected shareholders are seeking to replace him
with Freddie Fletcher, the former Newcastle United
chief executive. If by then, however, Leeds have
beaten Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham in the
Premiership, the angry voices may be muted.
