It’s often overlooked, but sometimes it’s important to delve past the headline figure in a transfer fee and see what else the club could gain or lose.
Sometimes a fee can look incredibly cheap – but add ons and sell on fees can result in a tidy profit further down the road. On the other hand, sometimes certain clauses and add ons will never be met, so the fee isn’t quite what everyone thought.
The Express reported on the current situation with Philippe Coutinho’s transfer from Liverpool to Barcelona, and the Anfield club look set to miss out.
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The state that although the fee was billed as “up to £142m”, there’s still around £35m outstanding due to clauses and add ons that haven’t been fulfilled
It sounds like these were related to performances, but they are now under threat as Barcelona close in on selling the Brazilian after an underwhelming few years.
The biggest amount was set to be triggered after he made 100 appearances for Barca, but he’s only managed 55 and it looks unlikely he will force his way back into the team.
It’s still not clear where he might end up this Summer, but it does look like Liverpool are going to miss out financially.