Spurs face legal action over ‘peanuts’ Solomon fee – Shakhtar،
Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergei Palkin has accused Tottenham of 'disrespect' by offering 'peanuts' during negotiations for winger Manor Solomon and threatened to take the club to court if a solution is not found found quickly.
Solomon joined Spurs on a free transfer last July taking advantage of a FIFA ruling that allows foreign players in Russia and Ukraine to unilaterally suspend their contracts following the outbreak of war in the region.
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Shakhtar are one of several clubs to have challenged changes to Annex 7 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, but after appeals were rejected by FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ), the Ukrainian club filed a lawsuit against specific clubs that they believed had received “unjust enrichment” using this clause.
Solomon was under contract at Shakhtar until the end of 2023, meaning Spurs would have had to pay some sort of transfer fee had Annex 7 not existed. Shakhtar paid Maccabi Petah Tikva 6.5 million euros ($7.05 million) for the winger in January 2019 and believed he had a market value of 20 million euros.
ESPN revealed in October that the two clubs were in discussions over a possible compensation amount, but those negotiations broke down after a failure to reach an agreement.
“Since October, we have been diligently engaged in negotiations with Tottenham,” Palkin told ESPN.
“But ultimately, Tottenham did not act in a way that reflects the principles of justice and fairness. In this situation, we feel a sense of disrespect from Tottenham.
“If you go deep into my feelings over these months that we have been negotiating. In fact, we would like to appeal to Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy to act in good faith and uphold the shared values of the Spurs family European football in order to find a fair way to compensate us. in this transfer, what we are talking about.”
Negotiations were ongoing between Palkin and Rebecca Caplehorn, Tottenham's director of football administration and governance, with Spurs offering to pay 10% of any sale fee if Solomon left the club. Solomon has only played six times for Tottenham, having been out since October with a knee injury.
“They proposed something, but what they proposed is not even serious,” Palkin said. “It’s something like peanuts to show that they are willing to give something but it’s not comparable to what they received.
“A club like Tottenham cannot behave like this. They are a top club and known all over the world and behaving the way they are doing is very strange.
“We negotiated with them for many months, we respected them and we didn't honestly ask for a huge amount of money. We didn't even ask for money. We said 'OK, give us a fee sale for the future.
“When you get a player for free and that player is worth 20 million euros – the transfer market always undervalues players – that means something. It means that we have developed and invested in that player. You have to respect our work. If we all say we are a football family and after that you get a player for free and don't pay attention to our team, it's not fair.
“To me, 20%, 30% would be fair value. In this situation, that would be fair value.”
Shakhtar took legal action following the loss of another player, Mateus Tetê, first loaned to Lyon then to Galatasaray.
They are chasing Lyon as Palkin claims he pocketed €1m when the winger joined Leicester on a new loan deal in January, while there is another case against Tetê and Galatasaray together after joining the Turkish side in August using Annex 7.
Tetê had a contract with Shakhtar until the end of 2023. The hearing date in both cases has not yet been set.
Palkin is ready to go to court again, but believes the Spurs should act in good faith toward a team trying to continue operating in a war zone.
“We will take legal action against the Spurs if necessary,” Palkin said. “But regardless, the reason why I am appealing to the Spurs president is because I believe he will give us a hand and support us.
“We are at war in the country and they should pay attention to it. When the war started in our country, the whole democratic world supported us. I appeal to this kind of morality to help us.
“But anyway, in our discussions with FIFA, yes, we lost at CAS and it is difficult to fight the system. But anyway, we think that if the clubs receive something for free, it is a unjust enrichment.
“We will go to court and do our best to get some kind of compensation because we invest a lot of money in players and it is not possible to have this kind of situation. We have to share our problems and get the help from clubs. If FIFA and ECA say we are one football family, that we should be one family and not like that.”
A Tottenham spokesperson told ESPN: “We made a donation to the Shakhtar foundation after last summer's friendly and we continue to discuss this situation with them but not via the press.”
The two clubs played a friendly match in August which raised £505,000 for Shakhtar's social foundation to implement projects to support and help those affected by the war.
Sources at FIFA reiterated to ESPN that each player's situation is judged on a case-by-case basis so players cannot automatically leave with a free transfer.
Various adjustments to Annex 7 have also been made taking into account the financial health of Ukrainian clubs. These include players and staff wishing to use Annex 7 who must inform their team in writing before July 1 and those who extended their contract after March 7, 2022 cannot now suspend their agreements.
