£3M PAID FOR BELLION

Last updated : 17 October 2003 By Editor
From the Guardian

'Manchester United yesterday agreed to pay Sunderland up to
£3m for David Bellion rather than rely on an independent
tribunal to determine a compensation package. The figure,
though easily affordable to a club of United's riches,
represents a baffling about-turn when the Football League
Appeals Committee was widely expected to settle the fee at a
considerably lower price.

After nine months of often acrimonious negotiations the
dispute between the clubs was due to be heard by the appeals
committee yesterday, only for both to reconvene talks. They
finally announced that United will pay an initial £2m, with
a further £1m dependent on appearances and international
call-ups by the forward.

Why United appear to have backed down is a mystery given
they had previously offered to pay only half of Sunderland's
£3m valuation. Supporters' groups were last night
questioning why, in such a deflated transfer market, they
had paid so much for a player who made only three starts for
Sunderland.

When the transfer was first mooted in January, United were
prepared to offer only £1.5m, a figure that caused Murray to
label them "arrogant and despicable".

Had United had been prepared to go through a league tribunal
several factors would have been in their favour. As Bellion
is under 24 he is not eligible to move on a Bosman free
transfer, so the tribunal would have based compensation on
how long the player had been at Sunderland and how
instrumental they had been to his football education.