Why are 1bn euro release clauses becoming more common?
In recent years, high release clauses have become more common as a way for teams to prevent their players from joining other clubs during transfer windows.Footballers in Spain are required to have a release clause as per the country's laws, and they are agreed as part of contract negotiations.A high - potentially unreachable - release clause gives clubs more security over a player's future for the duration of their contract, or until a new deal is agreed.Earlier this week, Barcelona announced that teenage attacker Lamine Yamal has a release clause of 1bn euros (£840m) in his new contract.England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who will join Real Madrid on a on a six-year deal on Sunday, has the same clause.At the time of writing, 12 Real Madrid or Barcelona players have a 1bn euro release clause - Real's Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Eduardo Camavinga, Rodrygo and Alexander-Arnold, plus Barca's Ansu Fati, Pedri, Gavi, Ferran Torres, and Jules Kounde and Yamal.Ronald Araujo's Barca contract has the same clause, but it reduces dramatically to 65m euros in the summer window, before rising to 80m euros in January 2026.Although release clauses can be high, teams are still able to meet them.In 2017, Paris St-Germain paid Barcelona forward Neymar Jr's release clause which was a then world record 222m euros (£200m).It is suspected release clauses in Spain have risen in recent years because of the fees some Saudi Arabian clubs have been able to pay.
How do release clauses work?
A release clause is a specific amount written into a player's contract which has to be met by a potential buying club.If the clause is triggered, the club must allow the player to discuss a potential transfer. They are not obliged to move if personal terms are not agreed.A release clause is agreed by the player, a player's representatives and the club when negotiating a contract.This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.
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Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.The team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and pundits.We will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting events.Our coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio.
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BBC News
32 minutes ago
- BBC News
New-look PSG make history on emotional night for Luis Enrique
Luis Enrique wept tears of joy and emotion as Paris St-Germain delivered the performance of a lifetime to win the Champions League for the first time on a remarkable night in as PSG outclassed Inter Milan for a historic 5-0 victory, brilliant teenager Desire Doue confirmed his status as one half of a new duo of young superstars - alongside Barcelona's Lamine Yamal - who have the genius to dominate the game for years to poignant human story was PSG coach Luis Enrique, who became only the sixth coach to win this tournament with two different clubs after his triumph with Barcelona in sporting story was one of the finest team displays in the history of this tournament, in this and its previous guise of the European Cup, with generational teenage talent Doue as its the most important night of a career, Doue made the biggest stage in European club football his was also a win heavy with significance and meaning for 55-year-old Asturian Luis Enrique, beyond the glory of the brutal beauty of this PSG triumph that finally brought the giant Champions League trophy to The City Of man who has transformed PSG has spoken about how he helped his daughter Xana plant a Barcelona flag in the centre circle after that 2015 triumph over Juventus in Berlin. He said he hoped he might make the same gesture here in her memory after she died from a rare form of bone cancer aged nine in 2019. In the afterglow of victory, he pulled on a t-shirt bearing an image of himself and his daughter planting a PSG then, in a moment of raw emotion, PSG's "Ultras" unfurled their own tribute - a giant flag emblazoned with an image of father and daughter, in the French club's shirt, planting a was a wonderful gesture on a joyful night for PSG in Munich, when all their agonies as they chased the Champions League were washed away in one of the greatest displays any team has produced in a European final."I'm very happy. It was very emotional at the end with the banner from the fans for my family. But I always think about my daughter," said Luis Enrique."Since day one, I said I wanted to win important trophies, and Paris had never won the Champions League. We did it for the first time. It's a great feeling to make many people happy." And the inspiration was 19-year-old Doue, now a fully-fledged superstar, a far cry from the vulnerable youngster who only lasted 64 minutes before being replaced in the 2-0 loss at Arsenal in was after 63 minutes here on this humid night in Munich that Doue applied another flourish to a magical performance, steering home his second goal and PSG's third after making the first for Achraf Hakimi in the 12th minute then adding the second eight minutes he was taken off moments after scoring his second, football had watched a generational talent who will grace the game for years to is only the third teenager to score in a Champions League final after Patrick Kluivert for Ajax in 1995 and Carlos Alberto for Porto nine years later. The forward was also the first player to be involved in three goals in a Champions League final, with an assist and two at 19 years and 362 days, Doue became the youngest player to score two goals in a European Cup or Champions League final, overtaking Eusébio who was 20 years and 97 days old when he did the same for Benfica against Real Madrid in was part of a complete PSG performance, their incremental improvement throughout the Champions League, when they took a swathe to the Premier League's elite by beating Manchester City then knocking out Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal in the knockout stage, climaxed in the most stunning, emphatic Inter Milan had a plan, PSG gave them no opportunity to implement smiled broadly as he lifted the trophy, a career in its infancy but with golden years ahead. And even though 17-year-old Yamal was stopped at the Champions League semi-final stage by Inter, it does not take a leap of the imagination to see the young Barcelona forward and Doue as the shining lights contesting the game's major prizes in years to come. As they have done throughout this Champions League campaign, PSG's "Ultras" unfurled a giant tifo with a message for the players they hoped would finally put them at the pinnacle of European read: "Ensemble, Nous Sommes Invincibles" – Together, We Are they were here, the notion that the youngest team in the Champions League might falter against the oldest was exploded from the first was football played at another level, pace and intensity matched by the highest quality. PSG looked younger and faster as the game went on while this experienced Inter side grew older before the very statistics built a monument to just how good PSG five-goal victory margin was the biggest in any European Cup or Champions League after Doue went off, the relentless punishment continued as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and 19-year-old substitute Senny Mayulu added further were the best team in the Champions League. The competition got fitting winners, but rarely have winners played like this, sweeping aside supposedly formidable opposition in a manner that will live forever in the memory of all who witnessed final scoreline almost did a kindness to a bedraggled Inter, such was PSG's dominance and the sheer number of chances they was thrilling, progressive football that will set the standard for every side in Europe who have designs on the Champions League. All done after a switch of strategy away from the "bling bling" days of France forward Kylian Mbappe, Brazil's Neymar and Argentina's Lionel must Mbappe have felt watching this?Luis Enrique seized his chance, convinced club president Nasser al-Khelaifi and football advisor Luis Campos that he could build a better PSG side in the post-Mbappe era, and there could be no more compelling proof than this."This season is best season ever and we are so proud," Al-Khelaifi told CBS. "We are building the team for the future. Whatever the outcome was today, we are not going to change. The real work starts today. We need to be humble and down to earth."I am so proud, for the fans, for France. I think it is amazing for France, not just for Paris, because France deserves better. We have a good league, good historic clubs and we are sure it is going to be getting better."It has been hard. We have been criticised a lot. We have been trying to work for French football and people were criticising what we were doing. It really hurts of course, but for me I was focused on our goal."This year was not planned as the year. Today, thanks God that the team proved we have the best manager in the world, the best coach in the world, the best players and amazing fans." It was, quite simply, one of the all-time great performances in a European Sutton, in Munich, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Luis Enrique was the final piece in the jigsaw to get them here. In terms of top European managers of all time, he has to be in that category. "The age profile of the team, we mentioned Doue, Vitinha, Joao Neves, Willian Pacho and Hakimi. It's where they go from here."This is a team that are just at the start of their evolution. The main thing for me is the work ethic. This is a team who are prepared to run and they put the graft in and that's why they were successful."And former Premier League defender Nedum Onuoha told BBC Sport: "It's the best performance I can remember in a Champions League final, or pretty much in any final." Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
‘Always in my heart': Luis Enrique pays tribute to late daughter after PSG triumph
As Paris Saint-Germain clinched their first Champions League title, Luis Enrique's thoughts turned to his late daughter. Six years ago Xana died of osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. She was nine. And at the moment when he scaled the peak of his coaching career, Luis Enrique paid tribute to the child who he said was 'always in my heart'. At full-time the Paris fans unveiled a tifo depicting Luis and Xana, recreating the moment when he planted a flag in the pitch alongside her after winning the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015. 'It was very emotional with the banner from the fans for my family,' Luis Enrique said. 'But I always think about my daughter.' As for his history-making side, Luis Enrique could reflect on a mission spectacularly accomplished, after a 5-0 win over Inter that PSG dominated from start to finish. 'Since day one, I said I wanted to win important trophies,' he said. 'Paris had never won the Champions League. We did it for the first time. It's a great feeling to make many people happy.' Paris scored two goals inside 20 minutes and completed the rout in the second half, with the winger Désiré Doué scoring twice. 'We had a great start to the game, dominating from the beginning,' said Luis Enrique. 'But I wanted them to keep pushing, scoring, to ensure we won the game.' Doué, 19, was still processing a game that has elevated him into the very elite of world football. 'I can't believe what happened tonight,' he said. 'We made history for the club, in French football, in European football. We're a great team, and we showed it.' Inter's manager, Simone Inzaghi, tried to put a brave face on his side's humiliation. 'This hurts,' he said. 'Of course the game wasn't good enough on our part.' But he also insisted: 'We can come out stronger from this defeat, like we did in 2023 [after losing the final to Manchester City] and then won the league the following season.'
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
PSG supporters were '12th man' in Champions League win, says Luis Enrique
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