Report - Leeds fee agreed

Thanks to Blue Days for the nod towards this article in The Times which states we have agreed to pay £800,000 to Leeds in compensation for the signing of George Swan and Louis Hutton:

Manchester City have agreed to pay about £800,000 in compensation to end their row with Leeds United over the signing of two teenagers.

The Coca-Cola League One club were unhappy that City had lured Louis Hutton and George Swann, both 14, from their Thorp Arch academy this summer.

Ken Bates, the Leeds chairman, wrote in a recent match-day programme that a deal had been agreed, but did not announce the sum. City, who were not been accused of breaking any regulations, have not made any announcement. But the compensation fee is important because it could be used as a benchmark by lower-league clubs in similar cases.

Leeds rejected City’s initial offer of £70,000 for the pair, citing that they were awarded an initial payment of £600,000, rising to £1.55 million, by a tribunal for the transfer to Everton of Luke Garbutt, a 16-year-old defender. In the wake of the ruling, Shaun Harvey, the Leeds chief executive, said that Premier League clubs should lose points if they are found to have poached players.

I posted about this a couple of weeks when the story about the pair, and at the time neither club released details of the agreed fee.

I can't vouch for the veracity of The Times article, as there are now sources or comments within the story and no confirmation from either ourselves or Leeds regarding any agreement. In addition, neither the MEN or Yorkshire Evening Post are carrying anything either which does beg the question as to where The Times sourced their information from.

As with all fees though that are paid for Academy players, the question of worth is an impossible one to call at such an early age. They could go on to get 100 international caps and the amount paid is next to nothing, or they could sink without trace and never play a game in which case the amount paid seems exorbitant.

What is clear is that the competition involved in both signing these players and for them to make the grade is getting tougher all the time and you do get the feeling that a large number of these players who make these sort of moves are ultimately going to fall by the wayside.

Leeds compensation agreed

From The Yorkshire Evening Post:

Leeds United have settled their dispute with Manchester City over the transfer of two 14-year-old players from Thorp Arch to Eastlands.

United were pursuing City for compensation after seeing teenagers George Swan and Louis Hutton leave their academy to move to Manchester earlier in the year, and the matter has been resolved through what the Elland Road club called an "amicable private agreement".

Why the Delph bid failed

From leedsunited.com:

"We had accepted an offer from Manchester City on Saturday which they had to go back with to the owner in the Gulf," Bates told Leeds' official website. "Then apparently they needed a week to think about it which surprised us, considering the size of the deal.

"The problem was they might have come back and said `no' and that wouldn't have been fair to Delph, wouldn't have been fair to Aston Villa, and would have eaten into our season.

"We went back to Villa and it's a good decision for Leeds and the player."

UPDATE:

Some further comments toay from Ken Bates courtesy of Phil Hay's article in the Yorkshire Evening Post:

"Aston Villa's behavious was honourable throughout. They
never involved the media in this or did anything underhand, and they were very
clear that they wanted a deal to be done."The negotiations from start to finish
were above board and that's why the transfer went through smoothly."

Hardly a reference for a transfer negotiation policy, but saying that it isn't often you see Ken Bates and honourable in the same passage.

What I still fail to understand is why having registered at the very least a serious interest, we would then put the brakes on and ask for a week to think things through. Either we were hot on the player enough to warrant that interest or we weren't.

Clearly the fee wouldn't have been an issue, and negotiations seem to have gone smoothly with Villa so I don't see any curve balls being thrown.

From a City perspective it has been very quiet with regards this, and the MEN haven't picked up on this thread - perhaps at the behest of the club?

Yet there does appear to be a valid question to be asked of quite what happened with this deal.

Leeds agree Delph fee with Villa

Aston Villa can confirm that a fee has been agreed with Leeds United for Fabian Delph.

The 19-year-old has made 53 appearances for the Elland Road side as well as representing England at under-19 and under-21 levels.

A Leeds United spokesman said the Yorkshire club: "Wishes to place on record our appreciation for the honourable manner in which Aston Villa has conducted their interest in the player.

"Leeds has resisted approaches from other FA Premier League clubs since agreeing terms with Aston Villa."

>>avfc.co.uk

An interesting move, no doubt.

It was reported by The Yorkshire Evening Post this morning that Delph was expected to leave by the end of this week, yet given comments from Mark Hughes at the weekend it seemed we were favourites.

It is interesting wording talking of the 'honourable' way Villa have conducted negotiations, and that Leeds have frozen other clubs out of the picture rather than potentially (I'm supposing a little here) a higher bid.

Hughes confirms Delph interest

CITY manager Mark Hughes has confirmed the club's interest in Leeds teenager Fabian Delph.

The 19-year-old midfielder has attracted interest from Premier League clubs for some time and was pulled out of Leeds' friendly with Burnley on Saturday, with speculation growing that he will become the latest player to move to Eastlands.

"We have an interest in the situation," said Hughes, following City's 1-1 friendly draw with Barnsley at Oakwell.

"He is a young player who has been brought to our attention. I'm not sure where we are up to with that because obviously I have been busy with the game today."

>>MEN.

I can't confess to knowing anything about Delph as a player, given that I've never seen him play. A couple of colleagues are Leeds fans though and do rate him as something special. How much League 1 can be used as a benchmark though is open to debate.

Still, he is a fixture in the England under-21 side and Stuart Pearce has spoken highly of him so he could well be one for the future.