Raphina

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

They are first and foremost a negotiating tool. They are used by clubs to protect themselves (how many times have you seen reports of a player being put under contract and then never played (Citeh are prime targets for criticism of doing so)?), they increase the "value" of a player that other clubs may be interested in, the longer their current contract has before expiring, so maximising the price that other clubs would have to pay as "compensation" for that unexpired contract period (and what they think the current club would accept of course!). Naturally they will contain the terms and conditions that determine what a player will be paid, incentives, sanctions should the player misbehave etc, but its the protection/compensation element that is the driver behind most contract negotiations in the modern game.

None of the above forces a player to go to a club they don't want to go to, no matter what their current club might prefer, and no club will pay good money for a player they know doesn't want to play for them, why would they?

Let's hope Barca can "sweep the corners" and find a few more Euros, because I don't think Raphina wants to go anywhere but there.

I am sure Mrrs Treitel and Atiyah would disagree on your assessment of contracts.

Barcelona don’t have the cash to pay Leeds what they are holding out for. At the end of the day Leeds don’t have to sell. Laporte seems to be playing politics but Leeds don’t have to sell at all. Destabilise the player so you don’t have to pay market value. If UEFA and FIFA had any teeth they would address the dealings of Barca and Real Madrid and put an end to some of the nonsense. A club owing allegedly close to 1b euros should not be buying players until it has paid off some of that debt.

Deco as an ambassador for Barca is in a slightly conflicted position not that I am sure he would see it that way.

If Barca can’t pay 60m the it’s Chelsea or stay with us - he wants champions league football by all accounts so he will need to be flexible.