Chapter 37: Contract
John was meeting one of the players he was planning to sign from OM Marseille: Medhi Benatia.
Medhi was a tall, large, strong and athletic defender in his prime with good technique, ball playing ability and an excellent ability to organise the defense. He was known for his tackling and ability in the air. But right now, he wasn't in Olympique de Marseille's plans.
OM Marseille, the only French club to have won the UEFA Champions League, had finished 2nd in the season 2006-07. They were preparing for the next season's Champions League and try to dethrone Lyon from the top of the table. So they were trying to strengthen their squad and had no plans for a 20 year centre back they had sent out on loan last year. So John took him off of there hands for a small fee of 500,000 pounds.
If John wasn't here, Benatia would have gone on loan to another Ligue 2 club after being sent to Tours last year.
So, John and Michael were meeting with Benatia and his agent, Moussa Sissoko, the agent who would go on to manage players like Ousmane Dembele and Ismael Bennacer in the future.
"Hello, Mr. Benatia, Mr. Sissoko, we are very happy to meet you." John greeted them as he shook their hands.
"Hello, Mr. Baker, Mr. Edwards." They replied as they all sat down.
"I want to sign Benatia as a Leicester player. I think he is a good fit for our team's tactics and would be able to play to his best abilities there." John said to them.
"But Mr. Baker, Benatia needs minutes. That's why he's leaving Marseille. So what kind of role are you trying to sign him for." Sissoko said to John.
"I can't make any promises, the decisions to who will play is in manager's hands after all. We are trying to sign him as a rotation player for our squad." John said to them truthfully. He didn't want to lie to them just to get the player to sign, so he told them everything honestly.
"But ultimately, his role in the squad will depend on the manager's decision. If he manages to convince the manager with his performances, he will be the starter. And his competition is from another 20 years old player for the starting CB position." John said to them while he felt relaxed.
Ever since the last day, he felt as if he had a weight off his shoulders. He couldn't help but remember Mary and their awkward conversation in the middle of the sidewalk.
He focused on the the 20 year old player and his agent who were discussing among themselves. John was in no hurry as he sipped on his coffee ideally. Michael was also sitting with him, but he wasn't very useful in this conversation as he didn't know French and Benatia's agent spoke English. So, he was also sipping on cofffee with an expression on his face that said bored.
"Mr. Baker, we agree on your sporting project and I think its only fair that his role will depend on his performances. Now, we would like to know the financial offer before deciding whether to join Leicester City." Sissoko said to John with a glint in his eyes.
"We are willing to give him a five year contract with annual salary of 120,000 pounds. It is the average salary for our first team squad." John said to them.
"Mr. Baker, that is too low. My player is already getting a 100,000 pounds in annual salary and he is already settled in France. Even though he isn't getting playing time at Marseille, many Ligue 2 sides want to sign him. And five years is too long, Mr. Baker, we want the contract length to be three years. Medhi is still growing and I think that in the next three years, he can acheive a new level, so we can sit together and negotiate again." Sissoko objected.
John felt that was only fair. Sissoko was an agent. His job and income depended on how much his client earned, so it was fair for him to want more money for his client. And John was willing to increase his salary, but John wasn't willing to compromise on the contract length.
"I think we can give him a salary of 150,000 pounds annually, Mr. Sissoko, but only because he has potential. But we aren't willing to reduce the contract length." John said to them, declaring his position.
"Then I think Mr. Baker, we can atleast agree on a release clause inserted in his contract. So that if my client outgrew the contract, he would have an avenue to negotiate." Sissoko said to John.
John was frowning. He felt that he was already giving a generous contract when he revised it. But apparently the agent wanted more. But John wasn't awfully worried, he had other candidates in his mind if this negotiation broke down. It's just that Benatia was the kind of player that will fit in Leicester tactics, so he tried one last time.
"Mr. Sissoko, even though Benatia has potential, he isn't that good yet. He is very much an unknown quantity for us. So, we would like to keep him long term to develop him to play for us."John said to Sissoko while frowning lightly. He saw that there was a slight hesitation on Sissoko's face.
"Alright. We are willing to provide him a contract with a salary of 150,000 pounds anually with a 10% salary increase every year but the contract length has to be five years. And this is our last offer." John said in a decisive tone. Even though John had money to spare right now, he wasn't willing to splurge it. He had other options if Benatia ended up snubbing him.
There started another round of discussion between Benatia and Sissoko. While they were discussing, John's mind drifted again. He started thinking about the current structures of contracts. Right now, the contracts with a base salary and a percentage increase was the most famous. But John knew that with time performance based contracts will become more common in the future.
As more and more clubs would be bought by rich people, they would also invest an obscene amount of money in their clubs. To lure players to their clubs, they would have to pay out huge contracts. Thus, their club's wages will also be ginormous. And to get around the financial fair play regulations that restricts the club's wage bill dependent on their revenue, contracts that give bonuses to their star players based on their performances will become more and more common.
First popularised by Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano, this model will be adopted worldwide to gain an edge when trying to attract players and would have a safety net if the signing didn't work out. There were both pros and cons to this system but John felt that the advantages beat the disadvantages. So, John was willing to work on it and adapt it at Leicester. But he was no genius in either finance or football. So he will have to ask Michael and Sean to work on it in the future.
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