On June 5th, we carried a report from Het Belang Van Limburg, who claimed Southampton have agreed a deal with Standard Liège for Moussa Djenepo.
It was also explained the Saints will pay €12m plus €3m in bonuses to acquire the Mail international’s services.
Another Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws now suggests the Premier League side are willing to pay a higher fee to Standard Liège in order to improve the 20-year-old’s chances of obtaining a work permit.
The overall cost of the operation could be in excess of €20m with the fixed fee ranging between €12-16m, bonuses rising up to €5m, and Standard Liège earning a percentage of the future sale.
With these figures, the winger is expected to become one of the top 10 most expensive signings at Southampton.
HLN states the amount of the transfer fee has a major impact in obtaining a work permit for a non-EU player.
The FA must take a decision whether or not to grant a player a work permit, if he is below 21 and his country’s FIFA rank is beyond 50.
Since Mali is not in the top 50 of FIFA rankings, Djenepo must meet other criteria and must need at least four points from those conditions to obtain a work permit.
HLN give their own explanation, but we’ve previously used this from the excellent Daniel Geey football law website, it details the first appeals hurdle.
- The value of the transfer fee being paid for the player is in the top 25% of all transfers to Premier League clubs in the previous 2 windows – 3 points
- The value of the transfer fee being paid for the player is between the 50th and 75th% of all transfers to Premier League clubs in the previous 2 windows – 2 points
- The wages being paid to the player by the applicant club is in the top 25% of the top 30 earners at the club – 3 points
- The wages being paid to the player by the applicant club are between the 50th and 75th% of all the top 30 earners at the club – 2 points
- The player’s current club is in a Top League and the player has played in 30% or more of the available domestic league minutes – 1 point
- The player’s current club has played in the group stages or onwards of the Champions League, Europa League or the Copa Libertadores within the last 12 months and the player has played in 30% or more of the available domestic league minutes – 1 point
Having played in the Europa League, Djenepo is certain to have a point and if his transfer fee is high enough, that could be sufficient for him to reach the target of four points to complete a switch to Southampton.
That said, it’s still at the discretion of the system, so for Southampton to willingly pay more could be questionable. There’s also the fact that the panel aren’t going to be fooled by bonuses which are added on just to suggest a higher fee.
