Eventually falling through after a rather complicated week or so, Ishak Belfodil’s transfer to Everton remains a hot topic of conversation in Belgium these days.
The reason behind this is former Bayern Munich defender Daniel van Buyten, who spent the last year and a half advising Standard Liège’s president, and had quite a few things to say about the botched deal when giving an interview to DH.
Last week, we covered claims in Sport/Foot Magazine from Ishak Belfodil’s agent that Belgian super agent Christophe Henrotay was to blame for the collapse of the Everton transfer, something Van Buyten was keen to dismiss.
He said: “I listened to my friend of more than 15 years. I know he’s a man of his word. It’s a deal that started with six people and ended up with twelve, maybe more. When a job is done, it needs to be paid for. That’s normal. However, when it goes to twelve, and the others want more, what happens?
“I don’t know. I’m not an agent, but an advisor to the president. For Belfodil to Everton, everything was ready to do it. And to be clear: I’m not someone who takes commissions like a few have said.”
Van Buyten also revealed Belfodil did travel to England to meet with Everton, which led to him asking the question: “Why do that if you’re not going to let him leave?”
The former defender was all for selling Belfodil to the Toffees, which the player himself wanted, but it seems the rest of the club weren’t entirely sure it was for the best.
This difference of opinion, as well as the interview revealing a lot of details, ultimately led to Van Buyten being told very nicely it was time for him to leave.
What a mess…
