Mateus Fernandes’ departure to Tottenham for the huge sum of £85 million has pretty much served notice on like;ey bargain hunters that West Ham are no pushover under the new regime, nor are they as strapped for cash as previously assumed.
Daniel Kretinsky’s welcome assertion that the club had no financial need to sell players seems borne out by the refusal to ‘deal’ at less than the quoted price of £85 million and now attention shifts to the other likely summer depart – Crysencio Summerville.
A -shall we say- ‘thought-provoking‘ report in today’s teamtalk.com suggests that relegation has significantly shifted West Ham’s price expectations for their Flying Dutchman thanks to a clause in his contract.
“West Ham United’s relegation has triggered a clause in Crysencio Summerville’s contract that has significantly reduced the fee required to sign the Netherlands international this summer, with sources telling TEAMtalk that Manchester United are interested in signing the winger.
Summerville’s transfer may hinge on a ‘claimed’ release clause
Well-placed sources with knowledge of the situation have told us that when Summerville joined West Ham from Leeds United in 2024, a release clause was inserted into his contract, which would subsequently reduce in valuation should the Hammers suffer relegation.”
The report goes on to state that Summerville’s Premier League release would have been £70m but falls to £40m in the Championship. And then, somewhat counter-intuitively, states:
“Instead, sources believe any eventual agreement is more likely to exceed the £40m mark in overall value, with the Hammers prepared to accept structured payments over a number of years.”
Which would suggest it isn’t a release clause then. Otherwise a team would simply offer the £40m and he’d be sold. How it would then ‘exceed’ £40 million isn’t stated. Unless I’m being a bit slow this morning. One for our sources to comment on, I think….
However, the existence of a release clause (at whatever price) within his contract would certainly explain the club’s seeming resignation to the likelihood of a summer departure. Confused? Yep. Me too.
A release clause will contain dates and terms of payment. E.g. 40 million upfront. No one will want to do that. Hence, they may offer 50 million over 4 years instead etc. Similarly, there could be a 40 million ‘basic’, over several years, but with performance based add-ons to sweeten the deal for us.
It might of course be newspaper speculation
Summerville is worth much more than speculated amounts.
Convince him to stay until January transfer period.
Getting back into premiership will be worth at least £100m far exceeding any transfer monies.
If all goes to plan and this looks achievable he would probably stay until end of season and maybe beyond.
I believe the suggestion was it’s a £40m one payment clause and the price could be increased if payment was to be agreed in installments 🤷🏻♂️
Hi Martin, my take on the logic (no idea if it’s accurate of course!), is that West Ham could get a higher fee with installments, whereas a release clause would be paid up front.
I.e. a club can offer 40m and wnter contract negotiations with player – OR, they could offer 50m paid over 5 years (or whatever).
Could that be the point?
If the release clause is triggered, then the whole fee has to be paid up front. The buying club can negotiate to spread the payments over a longer period but for a higher fee.
Depends on the wording. It could be £40m cash, which would allow West Ham to choose to price and structure to their choosing if clubs don’t want to pay cash. Time will tell…