I was outraged at the fee received being claimed by City for Benjani and this showed I think! I am as placid as they come but when the red mist descends it often descents with vengeance…
In all honesty I still think that the arrangement is not ‘what it could or even should have been’ but Peter Storrie has ‘explained’ this on the Pompey site and it does sound better than it first appeared: ‘Today’s deal has been structured to enable Benji to join Manchester City without any more delay.
‘We were asked by the Premier League if we could work with City on restructuring the original deal. We were under no obligation to do so as the Premier League had received all of the necessary documents before the transfer deadline.
‘However, Benji has been a tremendous servant to Pompey so we have agreed that City can pay half the £7.75m fee up front with the other half being split equally over 25, 50 and 75 appearances.
‘City expressed some concern over a knee operation 18 months ago but as Benji has never shown any sign of trouble since the operation and rarely misses a game or training, we were happy to come to this arrangement.
‘We, of course, are confident of him playing the required amount of games otherwise we would not have agreed to the deal.
‘Fees from transfers are always spread over a period of time so this is nothing new and we could well be paid the full fee quicker this way than in other circumstances.
‘The Premier League has thanked us for adopting this sensible solution and Manchester City are also grateful that we have come to this agreement.
I feel less aggrieved having read this to be honest, as being paid further instalments – of around £1.29m each time – after 25, 50 and finally 75 games does make the deal sound better than the ‘original’ 75 game figure quotes, and City did not mention the 25 or 50 game marks… To be honest I still think that we will do well to see the full ‘£7.75m’, but you never know…
Storrie also said that this deal being sorted as it is allows Benjani to carry on his footballing career now and wished him well: ‘above all, Benji is no longer in limbo and everyone at Fratton Park wishes him continued success’.
Yep, we must not forget this I know we have already done this several times thinking the deal was done, but now it is 100% no two ways about it confirmed we must wish Benjani all the best. He has been fantastic for us, and as said several times before City have got a special player, I just hope that they will appreciate him as we did…
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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