Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has recently discussed the sale of former Crystal Palace striker Alexander Sorloth to RB Leipzig.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the Norwegian attacker had signed for the Bundesliga outfit, who see him as a replacement for Chelsea forward Timo Werner (per Sky Sports).
A report by the Evening Standard in mid-August claimed that the frontman’s move to Germany hinged on Palace coming to an agreement with Turkish club Trabzonspor.
That was due to the fact that the player was halfway through a two-year loan with Trabzonspor and they had an option to purchase the frontman for around £5.5m should he play 50% of their matches next season.
So, in the latest episode of The Price of Football podcast, Maguire discussed Sorloth’s move.
He said: “If [Leipzig are] prepared to pay £20m, then Trabzonspor could have waited until the end of the season for the money.
“Or, they went back to Palace and say, ‘Look, here’s the deal. You’ll make some money out of this, we’ll make some money out of this, the player will go on to play at a slightly higher level. Let’s get around a table and negotiate,’ and this is what’s come out of it.
“So, yeah, Palace could have made more money if they’d held on to him and if he’d delivered to the same extent that he has done in Turkey.
“But there [are] so many ifs and buts in football, it’s not the worst deal in the world for Palace.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what Maguire had to say, he believes that Palace could have received more money for Sorloth if they had made different decisions regarding the striker.
However, he still believes that the deal that Roy Hodgson’s side has ended up with is not “the worst deal in the world”.
Did Crystal Palace ship Alexander Sorloth out to Trabzonspor prematurely?
No, was the right decision
Yes, it was a mistake
With the 24-year-old frontman having netted a whopping 33 goals and provided 11 assists in 49 appearances for Trabzonspor (per Transfermarkt), it certainly seems that the Eagles shipped him out somewhat prematurely.