Atlético & Arsenal Still Undecided On Mérida Fee

Arsenal and Atlético Madrid are still in talks over a compensation package for midfielder Fran Mérida. The Spanish under 21 international returned to his home land almost a month ago, yet an agreement has not been reached over how much Madrid will pay, with Fran being under 24. Should neither party be able to finalise an arrangement, a UEFA tribunal will decide the amount.

Mérida was out of contract with Arsenal but he was not a free agent. FIFA rules dictate a player can exchange club’s at the end of a contract, but if the player is under 24 years of age, a compensation fee must be paid. This “training allowance” is decided between the two clubs, but commonly they fail to agree on a price, so UEFA intervene and decide on a figure.

This kind of legal case is not new to Fran, who was forced to pay €3.2 million to former employers Barcelona after being fined for “failing to meet the terms of a personal pre-contract”. Arsenal are believed to value the play-maker at around £3 million, whereas Atlético believe a figure around half of that is fair for a player with just 6 Premier League appearances.

It seems destined that a tribunal will decide, yet this controversial method of deciding a players value has outraged a number of club’s, including Crystal Palace when they signed John Bostock and Manchester City over the Daniel Sturridge deal.

30 thoughts on “Atlético & Arsenal Still Undecided On Mérida Fee

  • June 17, 2010 at 8:37 pm
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    atletico should just accept paying the 3 mill as i doubt there are many players better than merida for 3 mill

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  • June 17, 2010 at 9:16 pm
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    I think they’re playing smart, deliberately holding out for a tribunal to see if they can get lucky. They must be certain he’s worth that £3m as they’ve been pursuing him for ages.

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  • June 17, 2010 at 9:37 pm
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    out of interest /arsenal have signed Kyle Ebecilio,this is comfirmed!

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    • June 18, 2010 at 4:52 am
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      Wow!! really!!! I AM SOO SO SO Excited!!!!!

    • June 18, 2010 at 9:00 am
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      yeah J confirmed it weeks ago

  • June 17, 2010 at 10:01 pm
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    J, just to let you know, you’ve typo’d Atletico and Merida in the title.

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    • June 18, 2010 at 7:17 am
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      and spelt merida wrong

    • June 18, 2010 at 3:58 pm
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      It’s an issue with the website. If you look on NewsNow or the top of your browser, you’ll see it’s spelt correctly. Just because of the accent on the words it’s not recognised it.

  • June 17, 2010 at 11:17 pm
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    Hope we fight hard on this one. Merida is definitely worth the 3mil. He be worth three times that in a couple of years time., so they should just pay up.

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    • June 18, 2010 at 9:00 am
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      seems like a brilliant keeper
      5 milllion euros for a player wow

      its better to have the best talent from around the world at our club than at chelsea or united

    • June 18, 2010 at 10:38 am
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      Strange, but when I clicked on the link, it says that the player is a CB, not a keeper, and that’s he’s going to Chelsea for 5M.

    • June 18, 2010 at 11:05 am
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      Andrew, you’re a joker :D haha, “seems like a BRILLIANT keeper” :D they should appoint you as a blind scout.

    • June 18, 2010 at 12:08 pm
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      didnt read the whole article just saw arsenal4ever saying he was keeper and went with that but 5 million euros for 17 years he must be pretty damn good

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  • June 18, 2010 at 10:43 am
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    probably he is a CB, lol!! I dont really know. Never heard of him!!! A CB would make surely more sense as a GK. Probably I missunderstood something.

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    • June 18, 2010 at 10:56 am
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      Stoppers are defenders

      Shot-stoppers are keepers

  • June 18, 2010 at 1:16 pm
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    Mick McCarthy is an idiot, klose’s sending off was a brilliant decision. the first foul where he just bumped the player over should have been a yellow card even if the the first yellow shouldn’t have been. these players just do pathetic fouls which just breaks up play. well deserved red cards.

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    • June 18, 2010 at 3:08 pm
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      you think england will win tonight with their great GK?? :-) lol

      I dont want Klose even if I am german but the ref clearly gave to much yellow cards for both sides. We will trash Ghana so we are through!!! TRy to beat Algeria then we can speak :-)!!!

    • June 18, 2010 at 3:13 pm
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      England will get through
      same for germany

    • June 18, 2010 at 2:23 pm
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      found some info on our mystery striker
      he’s 15 year old, played for croatia in uefa under 17, played 2 games scored one goal and one assist, at the age of 15 year is almost 6 feet

    • June 18, 2010 at 3:19 pm
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      I was looking for this guy, too. I think sooner or later we will get him.

    • June 18, 2010 at 3:26 pm
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      they call him the killer in croatia which usually means good finisher so he’s got good height, knows how to finish lets hope we can get him

  • June 18, 2010 at 3:18 pm
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    @ andrew: of course you will go through but dont underestimate the serbs!! but as far I know our game was really bad but thx god we lost klose so hopefully another striker will start next game. Good luck for you today evening.

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  • June 18, 2010 at 5:21 pm
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    will wenger sign Ivan Jakov Džoni?

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  • June 19, 2010 at 3:43 pm
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    after watching the world cup i think its time for england to blood youth just like ghana and germany. lampard and gerrard midfield does not work at all.

    a shocking display by a team thats 2nd favourite for the cup

    Reply

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