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Given the situation with Charlie Taylor and the game against Wigan, where Taylor set a bonfire to all of the bridges between him and Leeds United, it was somewhat surprising to see that he was offered a new contract with Leeds.
Could this be the unthinkable, the turncoat offered a lifeline back into the squad?
Turns out that club is guaranteed compensation if Taylor moves on to another club if he rejects a contract offer once he is out of contract, since he is under 24 and a product of the team’s youth academy.
Leeds United offer Charlie Taylor new deal to ensure their right to compensation should he leave: https://t.co/6Q7pIL42Tm #lufc @PhilHayYEP pic.twitter.com/mZ04Ap9770
— YEP Sport (@YEPSportsdesk) May 17, 2017
Teams looking to sign Taylor on a free transfer will now have to provide compensation to Leeds, and if fee is not agreed upon, the matter will be up to a tribunal. This will be a blow to some of the teams interested in Taylor.
West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis, for example, was unhappy with the idea of signing a player with an uncertain fee, saying “The problem with that one is it would go to a tribunal so we’re not exactly sure what the fee would be. We don't know the costs on that one. That would be a difficult one but he’s one we have talked about. He wouldn’t be a free transfer."
The best example of a large fee that was settled at a tribunal would be the Liverpool signing of Danny Ings from Burnley back in 2015. Even though his contract had run out at Burnley, Liverpool agreed to pay a fee of £6.5 million, which could have risen an additional £1.5 million if certain benchmarks were reached by Ings.
Leeds had been rumored to have rejected transfer offers of up to £7 million for Taylor, with both Middlesbrough and Burnley having been spurned at the end of last summer’s transfer window and Crystal Palace joining the Charlie Taylor fan club during the January transfer window.
While maybe Leeds should have sold Taylor in previous windows, the contract offer for the want-away left back should at least guarantee some compensation for the youngster. It’s not a bad bit of business to hold onto the player to help with a playoff push, given the amount of money that is involved in promotion to the Premier League.