There has been some bizarre news this week coming from Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon, who face the prospect of losing their best players on free transfers. It stems from fans attacking them during training and these players then using that to exploit a release clause and tear up their contract on safety rounds. One player involved in all this is long-term target Bas Dost.
After claims from the Chronicle that Benitez tried to sign him last summer, this made many wonder if our pursuit of the Dutch goal machine would be back on. Sadly, that does not seem the be the case.
During his latest transfer piece on the striker, Lee Ryder has played down talk of a move for Dost. Ironically his availability on a ‘free’ means that any move is ‘very unlikely’ according to the Chronicle’s chief reporter, who claims that his wage demands and potential agent fees will see this become one of the messiest deals of the summer.
Based on his piece (read it in full here) here’s why it seems his availability on a ‘free’ has made him even more unrealistic to sign:
1 – Being a free transfer his agent is now very likely to demand a ridiculous signing on fee.
2 – Wage demands set to be huge and suddenly much higher than they would’ve been had he been available on a ‘normal’ deal. Newcastle are looking to cut the wage bill and he would likely want far more than our highest earner
3 – Both Sporting and FIFA will be taking legal action to stop this from happening, so he might not be able to move clubs or play for someone while it is sorted, which will be lengthy process. Worst case it could be reversed after he signed for a new club and then be stuck with paying a transfer fee on top of the sky high wages.
4 – Now he is ‘free’ wealthier clubs will try and sign him purely as an asset. For example, someone like Tottenham might view him as an ideal back-up striker to compete with Kane – also knowing they can then sell for a big profit.
#nufc not going down this road. FIFA and Sporting Lisbon could also fight Bas Dost's bid to escape Portugal https://t.co/HIgzGEN7xi
— Lee Ryder (@lee_ryder) June 13, 2018
He has been a long term target and would be a superb addition, but it sounds like this latest twist may actually end the link once and for all.
A bit of shame as he could’ve been the goal machine our side sorely lacks, however a move for him was probably never realistic given the sort of move (and fee) he would demand after 61 goals in 61 league games in Portugal!
