Barcelona broke Pedri’s contract on Thursday and extended the collaboration by four years until the summer of 2026. The 18-year-old midfielder’s commitment to Spanish international includes a transfer fee of no less than one billion euros. “The football world is so overwrought now,” sports marketer Frank van den Wall Bake said in conversation with the General Newspaper. In Spain, almost all footballers have such a transfer clause anyway, although the amounts vary enormously.
In 1985 it was included in the Spanish code that an employee, including a football player, must compensate his employer in the event of early termination of a contract. In most cases, this is mandatory included in a football player’s contract, because otherwise an arbitration committee must determine the amount of the transfer fee. The amount of the lump sum was previously determined by the amount of the salary, but the proportions in that area are now lost.
Van den Wall Bake is sometimes still shocked by the amounts that are doing the rounds. “But if you’re realistic, this is just how overwrought the football world is right now,” emphasizes the sports marketer in the newspaper. “With 222 million, Neymar is now the most expensive player, but where is the ceiling? I don’t think that has been achieved yet.” Pedri’s transfer clause means that a club that deposits a billion euros can take over the midfielder without having to negotiate with Barcelona.
Van den Wall Bake does not rule out the possibility that in the future there will be a club that will deposit a billion euros for a football player. “The boundaries are being stretched more and more. Those parties will soon be prepared to pay these kinds of amounts, I am convinced of that. Because they have a bottomless wallet.” He is referring, for example, to the new owners of Newcastle United. Public Investment Fund (PIF), PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media took over the shares of club owner Mike Ashley for 350 million euros earlier this month. These three companies together have an estimated equity capital of 350 billion euros and with that Newcastle suddenly has by far the richest owner in the world.
“These are very proud people who want to bring Newcastle to the top of the world. They are willing to pay a lot of money for that, amounts that will always cause amazement.” He personally finds the amounts ridiculous. “But on the other hand, if there are idiots out there willing to pay transfer fees like that, who am I to criticize that? You can see that football is still thriving and gaining popularity. Everyone wants to get a piece of that.”
After Pedri’s contract extension, Barcelona hopes to retain another five players. The Spanish club would also like to extend the contracts of Ansu Fati, Gavi, Ronald Araújo, Ousmane Dembélé and Sergi Roberto.