If you wanted to know just how big an impact the Bosman ruling has had on modern-day football, look no further than Cesc Fabregas’ move from Chelsea to Monaco.
Fabregas’ four-and-a-half-year stay in West London came to an end this evening, when Monaco announced the signing of the playmaker on a three-and-a-half-year deal, according to the club’s official Twitter account.
Fabregas has shown during the twelve seasons he’s playing in England, that he has a place amongst the Premier League’s elite and the 33-year-old was by no means going to bow down to Chelsea’s demands over a new contract.
Fabregas’ deal with the Blues was set to expire this summer and the possibility of agreeing a new deal that would reflect his quality and professionalism throughout his time in West London was hindered by Chelsea’s policy in regards to players over the age of 30.
A report from ESPN back in December stated that the Blues were only willing to offer players over 30, a one-year rolling contract. This of course became the immovable stumbling block in the club’s negotiations with the Spaniard.
It’s clear that Chelsea decided to get the most they could for Fabregas in January given that it was a foregone conclusion that he was heading for the exit door on a free transfer in the summer.
Monaco could have picked themselves up a bargain with the signing of Fabregas, Goal reporter Nizaar Kinsella revealed that the Red and Whites haven’t paid a single penny upfront for the 33-year-old:
Monaco initially get Cesc for free but the fee could end up being €11M (£10m). The cost is wrapped up in clauses around the performances of Fabregas and the team as a whole. #CFC
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) January 11, 2019
It is of course a good thing if Monaco pay the performance related bonuses involved in the Fabregas deal over the next three-and-a-half years.
There was another case that was similar to Fabregas’ that was resolved this evening, Spanish-Moroccan ace Munir left Barcelona for cents on the euro to join Sevilla.
According to Barcelona’s official website they received a fee of €1.05m for the 23 year olds services, to put that into context Barcelona received only €1.05m for a player that they’ve put their all into developing over seven years.
The ruling brought into effect after Jean-Marc Bosman’s legal battle in 1995 often ends showing clubs across the world that they will reap what they sow.
Chelsea can’t hold anything against Fabregas and Monaco as they have been the beneficiaries of the exact same circumstances in the past, they’ve signed the likes of Michael Ballack and Gus Poyet on free transfers.
