Nathan Ake could leave Bournemouth for cut-price fee as defender has no relegation clause in contractChelsea have a £40m buy back option but it is unlikely that Bournemouth will get near that as they cannot afford to keep the high earner
Bournemouth could be forced to accept a cut-price fee for star man Nathan Ake after it emerged the central defender does not have a relegation clause in his contract.
Already fighting the threat of a financial crisis while trying to plan for life in the Championship, relegated Bournemouth’s best hope of raising major funds is to sell Ake, who has attracted interest from Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United.
Chelsea have a £40 million buy back option on Ake, but it is unlikely that Bournemouth will get close to that figure given they cannot afford to keep the Dutch defender, who is one of the club’s highest earners.While most of Bournemouth’s first-team players will have to accept automatic wage reductions following relegation from the Premier League, Ake is in no such position and that will only strengthen the negotiating position of his suitors.
Other than Ake, Bournemouth face the threat of losing stars such as Callum Wilson, Josh King and David Brooks for cut-price fees as top-flight clubs seek to take advantage of their alarming financial predicament while it is understood there are also some fringe players without relegation clauses in their contracts.
While manager Eddie Howe, who is paid around £4 million a year, considers his future, Bournemouth are likely to be forced into having to sell their most valuable assets to offset the impact of relegation during the coronavirus pandemic.
In their latest set of accounts for the year ending June last year, Bournemouth revealed that the club’s wage bill had increased to £110.9 million and that their wage to turnover ratio was at a worrying 84.6 per cent. One unnamed executive’s salary and pension package rose to £1.9 million, which represented an increase of £500,000 on the previous year.
Howe, his assistant Jason Tindall, chief executive Neill Blake and technical director Richard Hughes all took wage cuts during the coronavirus lockdown, but significant long-term cuts will need to be made to the club’s expenditure following relegation.
Bournemouth will be forced to sell many of their best players, but could now see their values drop due to the need to raise money.
Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United are likely to try to negotiate a deal for around £25 million if they decide to bid for Ake, who Bournemouth had once thought there were guaranteed to earn at least £40 million on.
Striker Wilson has previously been valued at over £30 million by Bournemouth, but they will struggle to attract bids for over half that fee. King’s contract expires in one year and the Cherries will get nowhere near the £20 million they rejected from United at the end of the January transfer window. Midfielder Brooks is the subject of interest from a number of Premier League clubs hoping to land a bargain.
Bournemouth have already lost Ryan Fraser without earning a fee after the winger did not extend his contract when it expired at the end of June and did not play a part in the club’s unsuccessful fight against relegation.
Other than the money they have been paying out on salaries and the fact that not all players will immediately start earning less as a result of relegation, Bournemouth have a number of other financial worries hanging over them and it remains to be seen whether the club keep an expensive central London office they use for meetings.
The club’s player registration costs were up from £55.8 million to £94.2 million which contributed to an overall loss of £32.4 million — up from a loss of £10.9 million a year earlier.And, like many clubs, Bournemouth also have outstanding transfer fees to pay for a number of players with the club believed to still owe £81 million to other clubs with only £5 million owed to them on deals.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/07/28/several-bournemouths-highest-earners-have-no-relegation-clauses/
