Help us avoid Emiliano Sala payment: Cardiff seek Premier League clubs' advice on escaping £15m transfer fee

They could have waited a bit longer before starting legal proceedings to be fair
Maybe but if Cardiff had done the decent thing and paid up when they should have then Nantes wouldn't have needed to start them.
 
Cardiff should pay what they owe, then it’s up to them if they try to reclaim all or some of it back through other means such as insurance claims or lawsuits against agents/air companies.
 
Maybe but if Cardiff had done the decent thing and paid up when they should have then Nantes wouldn't have needed to start them.

TBF the guy was still lying at the bottom of the channel when Nantes started legal proceedings, which is a bit insensitive.
 
He'd probably still be alive if Cardiff never got involved. He wouldn't have been on that rickety plane. And while I'm at it, they shouldn't even be in the English leagues in the first place, enjoying cash they shouldn't have access to. Pay up you tight bastards.

Cardiff will pay when the details are established. For all his faults, Vincent Tan is an honourable man. It’s the Mail on Sunday ffs, you believe it?

With regards to they shouldn’t even be in the English leagues, like it or not I’ll educate you a little. 100+ years ago, Cardiff were playing in the Southern league. There was also a Northern league. Being the founders of the game, the FA invited Cardiff, along with others, to create a stronger Football League. Note, that there is no “English” before it. Several other Welsh clubs also joined - including Merthyr and Aberdare.

Cardiff have every right to be in it. Comes across as jealousy on your part mate.
 
To think some self righteous look at me types in here were getting their knickers in a twist over others wondering how the cash situation(inc wages) would be settled.
 
Wouldn't insurance sort this out?


Either way Cardiff are the cnnts on their part.

Seemingly, even with insurance, Cardiff stand to lose about £14m. This will drag through the Courts for years unfortunately.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...gal-action-emiliano-sala-plane-disaster-face/

Cardiff City could launch a negligence claim over the Emiliano Sala plane disaster as the club faces a financial loss of around £14 million even after insurance payouts, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Senior figures at the club are increasingly concerned by the decision to fly their record signing across the English Channel in a single-engined plane built in 1984 and piloted by a part-time gas engineer.

Cardiff are now considering their legal position as they face a three-year contract bill estimated by accountants at £30million. Accident insurance is only likely to cover half the forecasted loss. One source said payments from Cardiff to Nantes have been frozen until officials have established the facts from the crash.

The club told The Telegraph: "Cardiff has made its position very clear that it had nothing to do with the arrangements of the flight, and now new information is coming in every day as we are continuing to investigate the chain of events and the cause of the accident. We are looking at the potential possibility of negligence that may have caused the accident.”

The flight was booked independently by Sala’s agent and Mark McKay, an intermediary in the deal. Emergency service believe the plane crashed into the sea on Monday night after taking off from Nantes, north-west France. The club is particularly keen to discuss the chain of events with the owners of the US-registered Piper PA-46-310P Malibu.

A total £20million transfer fee had been agreed with Nantes, including a £3million bonus if the club survived relegation. Sala had been due at his first training session in Wales on Tuesday. The transfer documents had already been filed with the Football Association and Fifa. Cardiff "will pay whatever is due, once they have established all the answers and can determine all the facts", a source said.

The search for the aircraft officially ended on Thursday, against the wishes of Sala’s family. Rescue crews had covered an area of around 1,700 square miles of land and sea without finding any remains of the aircraft. Yesterday, Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona both supported calls to resume the search. A receptionist at the hotel where the pilot had been staying also added to the mystery by saying she believed the plane had been due to leave up to 10 hours before it eventually took off.

The club is believed to have had £16million (20.9m euros) of personal accident (PA) protection with the financial giant Lloyd’s to cover its players. Trade magazine Insurance Insider reports the club’s accident policy is led by China Re Syndicate 2088 and brokered by Miller. Sala’s name is likely to have been added to the Premier League club’s policy when the transfer was completed on January 19, just two days before his death. China Re’s lead line represents around 16 percent of the total limit, with other Lloyd’s insurers set to pay the rest of the claim. The Piper Malibu aircraft, which vanished off the coast of Guernsey, is also insured in the London market.

The minimum £17million transfer fee for the Argentinian striker, excluding the £3million Premier League survival bonus. was previously agreed to be paid in three instalments. The player’s agent, Meissa N'Diaye, and McKay were also due huge windfalls.

In addition to the £30million bill - which includes Sala’s projected salary and fees - the club is braced for a subsequent impact on revenue from sponsorship arrangements and shirt sales. One source said the club will pay Nantes "whatever they believe to be a fair amount once they have established all the possibilities, including any negligence claims".

The plane was built in 1984, and was registered in the United States rather than Britain through a company based in Norfolk.

The owners said in a statement issued by Southern Aircraft Consultancy they are "fully cooperating with the appropriate authorities, including the AAIB (air investigators) and police".

The pilot, Dave Ibbotson, held a private pilot’s licence, according to US Federal Aviation Aviation Administration records. There is no public record of him having a commercial qualification. Ian Marshall, a friend of Mr Ibbotson’s who sat with him on the British Parachute Association council, told The Guardian: “Most of the pilots who have these private licences are semi-commercial. You’re not meant to fly for any financial reward but that’s not to say you can’t fly for reasonable expenses. That’s how many of them get around it."

Ken Choo, the Cardiff chief executive, recognised the club is now facing a severe striker shortage as the transfer window expires. However, the interim Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has apparently told him the league is powerless to offer any special dispensations to make a signing beyond the end of January.
 
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Both clubs are being criticised for this playing out in public, but which side went public first?

The longer this goes on, the worse it's going to look for Cardiff and the more it'll look like Nantes were right to go about this professionally.

Using an inflated fee as a stalling tactic is pathetic. They chose to agree pay it.
 
Think the wording from the journos (as usual) has helped set the narrative that both clubs are at loggerheads.

“Nantes demand”
“Cardiff try to escape”

Usual tabloid shit stirring pish. Crass in the extreme.

If whats being said is true them Cardiff are an absolute shower of shit cunts and a club we should have no future dealings with.

Would love to hear Warnocks view
 
But why would Nantes be making demands for the full transfer fee if they know that that is covered by insurance? Nantes would not have any interest in the duration of the contract, salary, etc.

Apologies if I’m missing something.
 
If contracts had been signed then it's straightforward surely? If contracts hadn't been signed, then it's equally straightforward. The only thing that gets in the way is greed.
 
But why would Nantes be making demands for the full transfer fee if they know that that is covered by insurance? Nantes would not have any interest in the duration of the contract, salary, etc.

Apologies if I’m missing something.

They requested the first scheduled instalment which is part of a 3 year plan. They probably did so knowing that if they gave an inch cardiff would take a mile.
 
Cardiff squirming out of paying up the guys wages the fee would be covered by insurance unless they under valued him to keep the cost down or worse still didn’t insure him.
Nantes were due a payment and the buyers stiffed them , while it could have waited they probably don’t trust Cardiff to do the right thing which is being proved correct by their going to the PL.
 
I'd be surprised if the insurance company are going to pay out just like that. Cardiff should have to pay the fee minus the agents fee, as they were the people that let Sala down. Yes Emilio we'll charter you a flight to Cardiff, while getting a mate in need of a bit of work to fly him over in a rickety single engine plane.
 
Just seems like a reasonable compromise versus having a drawn out legal dispute.
There really shouldnt be any dispute at all, he was a Cardiff player. Cardiff weren't slow at playing the sympathy card and were more than happy to talk about how happy they were to have signed him.
 
Both Clubs should have agreed to let a period of time pass before discussing payment. If everything was signed off Cardiff have to pay.
 
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Cardiff City have contacted other Premier League clubs in an attempt to establish whether there may be grounds to avoid paying the full £15million transfer fee being demanded by Nantes for Emiliano Sala, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Letters sent in the past few days by lawyers acting for the club request help in ‘fighting off Nantes’ legal claim’, according to one source. They ask clubs for assistance in ‘sharing your knowledge of Sala as a player’.

The correspondence from a Cardiff law firm describes Sala as ‘the player that Cardiff tried to sign’, phrasing which makes it clear that the club believe they may not have to pay all — or indeed any — of the record transfer fee

Details of the letters — which Cardiff on Sunday confirmed were sent — emerged as manager Neil Warnock and chief executive Ken Choo arrived in Argentina for the player’s wake and funeral.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Cardiff’s decision to approach Premier League clubs publicly linked with Sala is partly motivated by transfer broker Willie McKay’s admission in an email to the striker that he had sought to artificially inflate the price. McKay told Sala he had told the media of rival interest ‘just to stimulate interest in you’.

The club are seeking to establish whether there was indeed any interest at all from other clubs. McKay’s email to Sala listed Everton and West Ham as clubs he had linked the player to, though Crystal Palace, Fulham, Burnley and Wolves were also reported to be keen

The Mail on Sunday revealed two weeks ago that one club had been publicly linked to Sala simply on the basis of a text message being sent signalling the player’s availability.

A second club was bemused to receive the letter from Cardiff’s lawyers suggesting they had also been linked. ‘This simply isn’t true in our case,’ said a source. ‘We never had an interest in Sala. We didn’t even watch him play.’

But Sala is by no means the first player to have been transferred after being artificially linked with other clubs. This is one of the oldest tricks in the wheeler-dealer world of player acquisition. It is difficult to see how Cardiff can possibly cite this practice to avoid paying the first £5m tranche of the fee they had agreed with Nantes for the player.

Cardiff have said they will ‘do the right thing’ but have indicated they ‘first want full facts disclosed about what happened and the involvement of agents with Nantes in the deal’.

The number of brokers involved in the deal is also understood to have concerned them. Some at the top of the club only became aware of the number taking a cut after The Mail on Sunday report which listed them. Cardiff want to establish what part each of those individuals played
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Recommended reading for Cardiff , ghost written by McKay possibly. :mad:
 
There really shouldnt be any dispute at all, he was a Cardiff player. Cardiff weren't slow at playing the sympathy card and were more than happy to talk about how happy they were to have signed him.

I suspect that Cardiff were also more than happy to go to the press when Nantes asked for the overdue first £5m - I'm sceptical that it would have been Nantes that would have leaked it to BBC Wales.
 
Cardiff will pay when the details are established. For all his faults, Vincent Tan is an honourable man. It’s the Mail on Sunday ffs, you believe it?

With regards to they shouldn’t even be in the English leagues, like it or not I’ll educate you a little. 100+ years ago, Cardiff were playing in the Southern league. There was also a Northern league. Being the founders of the game, the FA invited Cardiff, along with others, to create a stronger Football League. Note, that there is no “English” before it. Several other Welsh clubs also joined - including Merthyr and Aberdare.

Cardiff have every right to be in it. Comes across as jealousy on your part mate.
I think you may find that Rangers were members of the FA before Cardiff.
But you are right to defend the point.
 
If the transfer was completed then surely Cardiff haven’t a leg to stand on. Once he was their player, anything that happens to him is at their risk. That’s true whether it happens the day the transfer completed or after 5 years.

It’s a horrid situation but Cardiff need to be paying their dues.
 
Terrible from Cardiff.

They bought him, he was their player, pay up and do so quickly enough so that this shit doesnt turn into a circus.

From another angle, if Cardiff hadn't signed him, he wouldn't have been on the plane...
 
Which FA had registered Sala last? If FFF then still a Nantes player. If FA then he is a Cardiff player.

Sadly the issue over who owes what to whom was always going to raise its ugly head with this tragic case.
 
I wasn’t having a pop at the fans. Making a point that they had banners in memory of the player, now their club are, seemingly, trying to get out of paying up for him.
 
Assuming all of the paperwork is above board, Cardiff owe Nantes £15m. They are trying to wriggle out of it.

Perhaps in future they will ensure that £15m investments aren’t flown in tin cans.
 
Sadly, this will spiral back to the agent/broker and end up with a lot of lawyers getting involved.
 
The is a real danger here that if Cardiff manage to wriggle out of paying this money, it may damage clubs in the EPL regarding trust over payments to our continental neighbours.
Other EPL clubs should be careful regarding this issue.

As for Willie Mackay and other agents, this will perhaps open up a lens of transparency in how these people operate behind the scenes and how they manipulate football to enrich themselves whilst contributing very little of real worth to the game of football.
Just my opinion.
 
the worst thing about this surely is the "did you think he was any good?" being asked of other clubs?

Warnock was in France for most of December trying to get him to sign, it's quite obvious he wanted to buy the player. I think I remember reading that Bordeaux are also due 50% of the money due to a sell on clause they had so that's another club involved in it
 
I agree!!

They bought him, it was signed - they should pay

Totally agree. It does not matter what agents did. If Cardiff agreed that fee with Nantes they are honour bound to pay it. Their action in doing what is alleged indicates to me that they may not have had Sala insured.
 
Cardiff horrible cants it was not Nantes fault pay up or i hope no one does business with this club ever again and they have a cheek to go to the poor guys funeral.
 
Assuming all of the paperwork is above board, Cardiff owe Nantes £15m. They are trying to wriggle out of it.

Perhaps in future they will ensure that £15m investments aren’t flown in tin cans.

This is one of the reasons Cardiff are withholding payment.

Apparently, he wasn’t registered with the Premier League because Nantes hadnt completed the necessary paperwork. Whether that’s true, I don’t know - but needs to be determined.

Cardiff are consulting other Premier League sides regarding the role of agents - after emails from Willie Mackay show how he deliberately made up interest from other clubs to artificially inflate the price.

Also bear in mind how Vincent Tan was previously ripped off by Malky Mackay in conjunction with other agents and you can see why he wants everything above board.

If it is, he’ll cough up - no doubt about that. As I’d said previously, he’s an honourable man.
 
Poor shit from Cardiff, they bought him.

Pay the fucking money

I bought a 65 inch tv it was delivered broken, company pissed about so i got my full refund, Sala was never delivered whether Nantes like it or not it is them and the agent who set up that flight who should pay!!! He didn't receive international clearance so was never able to play for Cardiff, therefore their contract is technically null and void.
 
There really shouldnt be any dispute at all, he was a Cardiff player. Cardiff weren't slow at playing the sympathy card and were more than happy to talk about how happy they were to have signed him.

I agree there should be no dispute but there will be

It’s a shitty deal all round

I’m not disputing Nantes aren’t owed the entire amount I’m suggesting from a get on with business point of view......if I was Nantes ceo I would understand Cardiff’s grievance in not having any value for the money spent due to an unforeseen and tragic event.....I would be inclined to offer to split the fee. I suppose to go one step further I would suggest Nante recoup their cost in the player and then split the difference (e.g. if they paid 8 million for him, then they should split the remaining 7 million) it seems like it won’t hurt them at all to agree to this and move on.
 
Assuming all of the paperwork is above board, Cardiff owe Nantes £15m. They are trying to wriggle out of it.

Perhaps in future they will ensure that £15m investments aren’t flown in tin cans.
Transfer fees are rarely paid in one go. Cardiff may owe half the money now, and the rest paid after a certain amount of appearances. That's another grey area
 
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