On June 12th, Newcastle United confirmed they have agreed a deal with Odense Boldklub for Yankuba Minteh’s transfer. The Magpies also announced the winger will spend next season on loan at Feyenoord.
Multiple reports in the Danish press have stated OB will receive €50m kroner [€6.7m] from the 18-year-old’s sale to Newcastle. This is repeated by TV 2 Fyn, who have also interviewed OB football director Björn Wesström.
Although the Swede didn’t reveal any figures, he did say Minteh’s sale to the Magpies could be a record sale for OB, if certain conditions are fulfilled.
“It can be. The sale is divided into a fixed transfer fee and a performance-based part, which can come into play. And if everything comes into play, it will be a record transfer for me,” he said.
“The performance part is partly about the player playing a certain number of matches and partly about the club achieving something,” Wesström explained.
“For example, getting into the Champions League, winning the Premier League or something else. It may also be that the agreement is extended or something else. There are many performance options in the agreement.”
According to TV 2 Fyn, Newcastle first made an approach for the player last December. A deal couldn’t be carried out in the winter market, but the Premier League club returned for Minteh earlier this month.
“It was close to the sale already happening in January, but there were a lot of things at stake regarding the Premier League, Financial Fair Play and other things that didn’t go our way,” the OB director added.
“At the time, the idea was that he should be bought by Newcastle and then loaned back to us and play until the summer. That was the basic plan, but it didn’t turn out that way.”
When asked if he’s proud of this operation, Wesström said: “Absolutely. Very proud. No one else has done it before, so you should be proud. I think so.”
