Where have these release clauses appeared from?

Another transfer looks close to completion in the early part of next week as it's reported that Liverpool have met the release clause in Christian Benteke's contract. The clause is reported to be £32.5 million.

It's got me thinking about these release clauses and what they say about modern football.

In the example of Christian Benteke I'll have a look at what I think might have happened. Benteke was bought for £7m from Genk in August 2012 at the age of 22. Villa spent a lot of money in a player they saw as having huge potential and fitting into their style of play. The player probably saw Aston Villa as a stepping stone and either during the initial negotiations or a new contract, wanted a clause in his contract allowing this to happen. Villa wanted this to be a high figure and at the time probably thought that £32.5m for a player they bought for only £7m was probably good business. Since then, Benteke became the driving force at the club - going a long way towards keeping them up ever since signing. The club now feel quite reluctant to see one of their leaders leave, especially one so loved by their fans. So they dig their heels in and say to any suitor - "There's the release clause. If you want the player then that's what you have to pay." Liverpool are flush with the cash from selling Raheem Sterling and still haven't replaced the goals that Luis Suarez gave them. They have no choice but to pay.

I don't remember release clauses mentioned in transfer negotiations when I was a kid. But there wasn't anywhere near as much money in the game as there is nowadays.

In my eyes, the phenomenon started about ten years ago with the release clause quotes in the contracts of the players of Spanish clubs. But these don't seem to work in the same way. We're always hearing release clauses quoted of €50m to €150m but players no exchanging hands for those prices. And then there was the stand-off between Liverpool and Arsenal over the transfer of Luis Suarez. Only after Suarez had reconciled himself with Liverpool, did they reveal that there was a release clause but they decided to ignore it.

So, do they have a future in the game. I'd like to see them used in the way that Aston Villa, Christian Benteke and Liverpool have used them. Benteke gets his chance in a bigger league, Aston Villa get well rewarded for nurturing his talent and turning him into a player that the big clubs cover and Liverpool get a proven Premier League performer at a definite price.

Liverpool's transfer dealings indicate Sterling is on his way

Sunderland have made their first signing of the pre-season with the turning of Sebastian Coates loan into a permanent transfer. It's a good signing based in his form towards the end of the season. The next step is to add some more quality to the squad with the acquisition of a right back, another centre back, a central midfielder and a left-sided attacking midfielder or winger.

But it's the transfer dealings of Liverpool that interest me the most this Summer as they have already added six players and look determined to add Christian Benteke as well. They spent heavily with the windfall from the Luis Suarez sale last Summer and they must now have a huge squad with some pretty mediocre players taking up precious pounds on the wage bill. The next task will be to move on 8 to 12 of their under-achievers to balance the books and the squad. The likes of Fabio Borini, Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert haven't cut the mustard and there will probably be takers for them given their past records at other clubs.

But all this activity leads me to the conclusion that the biggest English deal of the transfer window has already been lined up. It's the outgoing transfer of Raheem Sterling - probably to Manchester City. City are looking to spend again and reinvest in their homegrown quotas for European competition. Having lost James Milner and Micah Richards and their academy not bringing through talent quickly enough, this is where they will have to spend big.

The days of a club selling a player and then looking for replacements with the money changed when Daniel Levy spent the Gareth Bale cash before the Bale deal was finalised and Liverpool have repeated the trick this Summer with Sterling. But Liverpool don't seem to have solved the problem that the Suarez departure left them with. A season without Suarez and Sturridge has shown the difference that goals make to a team, so a fit and firing Christian Benteke looks like their most important signing of the transfer window.

Elsewhere there hasn't been a flurry of activity with the odd signing here and there but there will be plenty of transfers to come with most bus expected to sign at least four or five players.

There's much more to come!