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.

Sunderland signings are starting to roll in

I looked at the areas Sunderland needed to strengthen at the end of the season and now the new season is fast approaching, the signings are starting to roll in. Sunderland have added Jermain Lens and Younes Kaboul this week. These complement Sebastian Coates and Adam Matthews to show four full internationals as additions to our squad.

When I looked at the team, I identified the following -

Pantillimon

NEW Right Back

Van Aanholt

NEW Centre Back

NEW Centre Back

Cattermole

Larsson

Rodwell

Defoe

Giaccherini or Adam Johnson

NEW Attacking Left Midfielder

I think that we have bought in the four areas we needed new players with the team looking like this-

Pantillimon

Matthews

Van Aanholt

Coates

Kaboul

Cattermole

Larsson

Rodwell

Defoe

Giaccherini or Johnson

Lens

In terms of the new signings, I think we've spent really well. The three defenders have come at bargain prices and two of them have Premier League experience. Aside from Coates they look to have a pace that the team has lacked for years.

Any further signings need to be quality additions that will prove the first team. The spending has been modest so far by Premier League standards so there should still be money available for a big signing or two if the right players become available.

The majority of the movement now needs to be in the other direction. We need to release funds from the wage bill and I've identified the people who in think we can do without-

The Ricky Alvarez saga is far from over but from what I can see we will be forced to sign him. I think that staying away from injury he has the potential to be a good player but we can't keep on buying players that only perform every now and again. We need to find a buyer.

Steven Fletcher hasn't produced the goods for a long time. His age is against him and his scoring record is really poor for a striker. Celtic seemed to be lined up, but his wages were a problem. He might have to drop to the Championship but Fletcher's days at sunderland look to be over.

What to do with Connor Wickham? I personally think that he doesn't care about the club. He hasn't lived up to his potential and seems to be more interested in the lifestyle than buckling down and furthering his career. This time last year I was desperate for him to stay after his heroics at the end of the season. But he's not kicked on and we need to cut our losses.

The Poyet signings from Brighton, Bridcutt and Buckley are not good enough for the top flight. Neither have been awful but neither have shown enough quality to suggest that they are moving the club forward. We're looking at international class signings now and these guys have been left behind.

Likewise the De Fanti signings of Roberge and Mavrias. None of our managers have really fancied these two and they've been shipped out on loan almost since they joined the club. I'd like to see them sold, but I think another loan is more likely.

I'm worried that Sunderland are getting left behind

It's that time of the year, as teams pout their squads together fore the upcoming season. Because of the Euros next summer, the Premier League starts really early this year, with the first round of matches starting on 8th August. This means that having your squad together early and getting them settled into a team plan is vital.

From Sunderland's point of view, the season that started with Paolo Di Canio as manager and we lost so many early games started the snowball effect that only a change of manager and an unbelievable run from Gus Poyet's men got us out of.

The club have stated that they want to move away from perennial relegation fights and towards the top 10. Dick Advocaat stated at the end of the season, when he hadn't decided whether he was staying or not, that we needed 4 or 5 quality signings to take us up the league and away from the bottom end. And as a fan I agree. Looking at the transfer business that teams with similar ambitions have conducted, I'm starting to worry about what we are doing and where we are being left behind. Sebastian Coates and Adam Matthews are good additions in my opinionj, but we need to be looking for another cetnre-back, a left midfielder/winger, a striker and probably another central midfielder. Let's have a look at what some of the other team have done so far this Summer-

Crystal Palace have signed Yohan Cabaye, which is a statement of major intent for the club.He is a talented player and will dictate the tempo of their game. Although he's never a player that we would have gone for, someone of his quality in central midfield would be a major boost to our club. I think that Jack Rodwell was perceived to be that type of player but injury and poor form haven't allowed him to show it.

Two signings for West Ham stand out so far, and that's Angelo Ogbonna from Juventus and Dimitri Payet from Marseille. Both look like they are quality players with experience of European competition. And both are players that look to have been targeted as part of the planning of the club - they've bought players where they need to strengthen. We, however are linked with Stewart Downing, who is being shifted on for Payet. It shows a lack of ambition and doesn't go any way to solving the problem we have with pace in our side.

Stoke City have made some very good signings and have pre-empted the loss of Asmir Begovic by promoting Jack Butland and buying Shay Given. Marco van Ginkel looks to be a promising prospect and the imminent arrival of Glen Johnson will bring in more experience. The return from injury of Bojan will be a massive boost to the club and will feel like a new signing.

Newcastle have been fairly quiet as well but have announced today that they've signed Georginio Wijnaldum, who looks a very good player and is one that we've been linked to. I think that Georginio Wijnaldum would be a massive step up from playing Connor Whickham on the left and it's a real shame that we've missed out on him - if indeed we were ever in for him.

Another team that have been quite busy is Aston Villa. They've spent the Fabian Delph money on Senegalese midfielder Idrissa Gueye, got defender Micah Richards on a free transfer and converted Scott Sinclair's loan from Manchester City into a permanent deal. These all represent good value and Richards signing will probably gall Sunderland fans the most as he looked all set to join us last Summer before Gus Poyet's intervention. Again, the club have looked at where they need players and acted swiftly to get their targets.

Swansea have added Ghanaian forward Andre Ayew on a free transfer from Marseille in their move that has caught the eye the most, for me. This player is quality and adds pace to their counter-attacking style. He'll take some of the pressure off Bafetimbi Gomis after the departure of Wilfried Bony.

I know that there are always huge amounts of rumours at this time of year, and I don't expect (and I don't want) us to buy every player that we're linked with but so many that we're linked with look like a good match and then we find that they've signed somewhere else.

I'd like the squad out together before the first game and us to move forward at the start of the season by picking up the points that start to move us away from the likes of the promoted clubs, West Brom and Leicester, who I think are the candidates apart from us to be struggling. To do this, we need to replace the creaking old-timers in central defence, provide cover for Patrick van Aanholt at left-back, sort out the slow uninventive options at left attacking midfield and free up Defoe and a new strike partner to score goals. No small order - especially when there's only 27 days until the season starts.

 

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!

Silly season

We're in the off season and fast approaching the opening of the transfer window. With the season seemingly starting earlier every year (8th August is the first round of Premier League fixtures this time) and ore-season tours to all parts of the globe, my view is that teams should get their business done early.

It's surprising to me how long it takes to pull a transfer together. If you take the point in time that a rumour first surfaces as the starting point, then we often see the process take over a month to come to fruition. Take my own club Sunderland and their reported pursuit if Carl Jenkinson. Reports linking us to a right back have gone in every Summer and January for years. This time, the interest in Jenkinson started about 3 weeks ago, according to reports. A loan fee of £1.5million has been widely reported, as has interest from West Ham and Southampton. Now the Saints bought a new right back yesterday so may nick longer be after Jenkinson. From my understanding of business, the situation from the outside looks like the player has a choice of clubs, probably dependent on speaking to the managers and then a medical and a deal can be done. But these things tend to drag out for weeks.

Deadline day seems to be the only thing that concentrates the minds of all the respective parties to get the deal done.

The rumours this season, as always, rest around the players from clubs just outside of the top teams who had a great season last year. Nathaniel Clyne is highly sought after, and Southampton's new right back sends hints that he's about to leave. Liverpool are reported to be front of the queue, but Manchester United could do with a quality right back.

The Danny Ings saga has finished with Liverpool beating off reported competition from Real Sociedad, Bayern Munich and a host of English clubs.

Charlie Austin is another English goalscorer who will be in demand all over the Premier League. Newcastle and West Ham needs goals and would ha e the resources for the transfer fee and his wages.

We shall see.

Champions League Final tonight

It's the Champions League Final tonight and I think that football needs a real boost after the recent (and ongoing) FIFA scandals. I'd love to think that the two teams could think about the image of the game but with the likes of Luis Suarez on the pitch I'm not so sure…

It's not the final I would have chosen at the start of the season but by beating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the semi-finals, these teams have really earned their place in this final.

Juventus do play in a traditionally Italian way, and have great defensive qualities. They attack sporadically in the Champions League but have real quality when they do. Carlos Tevez seems timeless, Arturo Vidal has great drive and Paul Pogba is being courted by the biggest clubs in the game.

I'd love to see a Juve win as I want to see variety, but I can't see past this Barcelona team as the champions.

The grief that Barcelona have gone to bringing in Neymar and Suarez has paid off. The front three are frighteningly good (with Neymar being clearly the weaker of the three) and attack with real pace, especially at the breakdown. It's what Pep Guardiola calls the transition and being able to attack the opposition before they have set up their formation makes a huge difference to your ability to score goals. As a former central defender I think that modern standards of defending are a long way down from my youth across the game and even with the big teams - particularly in Spain. But with an attack like this, Barcelona don't need to worry about their defence as much.

I think it will be one-sided and I also think that Barça will go all out for an early goal to force Juventus in to the front foot. This will be Juve's downfall.

Big Dick Advocaat is back - where does it leave us?

The slightly surprising news yesterday that Dick Advocaat has returned as Sunderland manager caught the bookies on the hop and has earned Mrs Advocaat a nice bunch of flowers, by all accounts. It's nice to have a quality manager that knows his football, has the backing of the players, understands the club (already) and has a great rapport with the fans. But it doesn't answer the questions around the playing staff of the club. We still need an overhaul, but the stories that went with Advocaat's departure (of him telling Ellis Short that we needed to buy quality rather than quantity) and the stories that went with his return (of him being promised £50m for players) are promising signs.

Personally, I hope that the gap between him leaving and re-signing was because of negotiations over the transfer policy rather than misgivings from his wife. I suppose we'll never know.

I've already looked at what I think should be potential transfer targets in a previous blog-

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The exception to the players I had identified would probably be Keiran Trippier. I stated that I thought he should be looked at as a new right-back based in the link to Sean Dyche, who was the favourite to take over as manager at the time. Rumours have linked us with Sam Byram from Leeds as a potential new right-back and, although I haven't seen him play, he is highly regarded.

There should now be a renewed feeling of optimism at the Stadium of Light and with the right signings (over to you, Lee Congerton) we can look forward to moving away from a relegation battle next season - but I think that at the same time every year.

The fact that Advocaat has signed a one-year deal means that we have to start work on his replacement straight away. Bringing in a Kevin Phillips now as his number 2, or promoting Paul Bracewell at the end of the season are better options than going into this blindly and looking for a new manager next June rather than this. I hope that the club sees sense in this and takes steps right now to ensure continuity at the end of the upcoming season.