The great transfer gamble: Why League of Ireland clubs must not rely on add-ons for value

The 42

a day ago

IT LOOKS LIKE Ringmahon Rangers have already won this summer's transfer window.
The 20% sell-on clause that was included in the Cork club's deal that sent Caoimhín Kelleher to Liverpool in 2015 paid off when his transfer to Brentford was completed just after the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper linked up for international duty at the start of the month.
Brentford paid an initial €15 million, which could rise to just over €21m depending on add-ons being triggered. Regardless, Ringmahon will receive a guaranteed €3m from Liverpool and, as per Fifa solidarity payments, an additional amount in the region of 2% of the transfer fee will be forthcoming from Brentford.
Not only that, unlike the training compensation mechanism that ensures clubs who develop players from the age of 12 to 23 are properly remunerated, the solidarity payments are attached for every transfer a player makes throughout their professional career.
So, should Kelleher's star rise in the Premier League and a club decides he is the first €50m Irish goalkeeper, Ringmahon and Rockmount (he spent half a year there) will be divvying up another 2% that is calculated by the recently-established Fifa Clearing House system.
In November, the world governing body confirmed that just shy of €110m had been distributed to grassroots and professional clubs over the last two years, and around €200m more is pending.
Advertisement
A decade after Kelleher left for Anfield, Ringmahon finally hit the jackpot financially. That's because Liverpool's initial outlay for the teenager was only in the region of €50,000.
And therein lies the great add-on gamble for clubs when players are moving on. In hindsight, Ringmahon's 20% sell-on clause with Kelleher was astute. In reality, it was a price the Premier League giants were more than willing to pay given the odds of it ever being triggered are stacked against any youngster leaving in their mid-teens. It was a win-win scenario for them.
That's another element of this deal that seems like it's part of a bygone era for Irish football. A year after Kelleher left home for Merseyside, the United Kingdom voted for Brexit. That means no Irish youngster can join a club there until the age of 18.
On the whole, League of Ireland clubs will be the ones creating the market for the most talented youngsters here. No longer will a Kelleher or a Nathan Collins leave these shores without being in the national league set-up.
And, increasingly, grassroots clubs will likely be cut out of any major deals going forward as training compensation is due from the age of 12, and that is now the point at which many players are joining League of Ireland academies.
The compensation system is currently as follows. Clubs are benchmarked into four different categories, with the big five leagues in Europe (England, Spain, Germany, France, Italy) and those top tier clubs in Argentina and Brazil in Category 1. League of Ireland Premier Division clubs fall into Category 2, First Division clubs here are in Category 3, and Category 4 are grassroots clubs.
If a transfer is being worked out solely on compensation terms, then as it currently stands, a club receives €10,000, regardless of category, for each year a player spent with them from the ages of 12 to 15.
It's once a player turns 16 that the categorisation comes into effect. For every year a player is there between the ages of 16 and 23, Category 1 clubs get €90,000, €60,000 for Category 2, €30,000 for Category 3, and €10,000 for Category 4.
One major difference now when it comes to arranging compensation if an English, Scottish or Welsh club come calling is the fact they are no longer in the European Union. That means the category of the buying club determines the compensation.
So, if Arsenal decide to sign a player who has been with Shamrock Rovers from 12 to 15, Rovers will receive €10,000 per year for those three years, but Arsenal will then have to shell out the maximum €90,000 per year for each year beyond that.
The caveat, of course, is that League of Ireland clubs won't want to be relying on compensation figures for their best players. That is why it's vital to ensure professional contracts are in place so the transfer market can determine a player's value, and building up the marketplace over time here is pivotal.
Take this summer, for example. With four Premier League clubs among those keen to sign Cathal O'Sullivan, the Republic of Ireland U21 international will most likely leave Cork City for a transfer fee that should be in the high six figures, potentially even seven.
That's despite the fact his current contract runs out at the end of this season. If such a market didn't exist and the 18-year-old wasn't already a professional, were he to join a Premier League club, under the current training compensation system Cork would be entitled to €10,000 per season he was at the club from 12 until 15. After that, as England is outside the EU and he would be joining a Category One club, the compensation from ages 16 to 18 would be worth €90,000 per season.
Cork, you can be sure, will insist on a sell-on and if O'Sullivan hits the heights like some expect, that should be a welcome bonus rather than relying on it so as not to feel short-changed. Further add-ons for senior international appearances will be built in too, and in the most recent case of Killian Phillips, who was capped twice for Ireland by Heimir Hallgrímsson, Drogheda United will still benefit despite St Mirren triggering the option to buy the midfielder last month after an impressive loan spell from Crystal Palace.
The Premier League club signed Phillips from Drogheda but even though the Scottish side took up the option, his registration won't officially sign over until 1 July, which means he was technically still a Palace player and thus the original add-ons are valid as per the first transfer.
That, again, shows the gamble that comes with such aspirational add-ons. It's why, for example, clubs here will make sure there are add-ons of varying value for any first-team appearances a former player makes while sent on loan – the cost depending on whether it's a Championship, League One or League Two they are sent to.
Related Reads
'He was awful, that's the worst I've seen Josh' - Shamrock Rovers star heads for Ireland duty on a low
Grounds for change in League of Ireland shines a light on anguish and joy in equal measure
'I'm not one bit mortified for myself, I'm mortified for the league': Damien Duff on that viral photo
Mason Melia is a prime example of a standard-setting deal, the €2 million transfer to Tottenham Hotspur coming to fruition as a result of competing clubs in the marketplace, in this instance Everton and Celtic. Melia did also play for St Joseph's Boys and Bray Wanderers between the age of 12 to 14 so they will be due training compensation.
But nothing like what St Pat's will rake in, and the Premier Division club also have not one but two sell-on clauses to ensure they maximise the earning potential from the deal.
If that sounds cold and cynical, that's because it's how the business of the game works and it will be vital for League of Ireland clubs to build on this for a sustainable and profitable industry.
Rovers, of course, have already shown their capabilities by earning the guts of €3m on Gavin Bazunu – because of various add-ons and a sell-ons – and the earlier reference to Arsenal is not completely plucked from thin air either as they are likely to confirm a deal with Rovers for 16-year-old Victor Ozhianvuna. It's expected that the guaranteed upfront amount for Ozhianvuna will set a new League of Ireland transfer record, and could potentially even rival what Ringmahon's speculative clause for Kelleher delivered.
That is no slight on the Cork club, of course, as they were simply trying to get the best deal possible in the system they were operating in. But, in the 10 years since, the market has changed and so have the demands on League of Ireland clubs.