In football, there is an increasing amount of talk about the release clause included in a contract: what it is, how it works, the regulations, who pays it and some of the most famous examples.
The release clause has now become part of football like offside or diagonals; indeed, in a ball that is now dominated at every level more by business than by sporting spirit, it can be said that it is often a factor of great importance.
After all, it is a clause that can be inserted into a contract of a footballer, in some countries mandatory - see Spain - and which is also increasingly frequent in Italy.
The release clause allows a footballer to free himself from the contract that binds him to a club, all in exchange for the payment of a previously established sum.
Often it is the footballers who insist on inserting this quibble into a contract, but even the clubs they belong to often do not mind inserting this clause especially when it is linked to very important release figures, sometimes even exceeding 100 million euros.
Let’s see in detail what is the termination clause, the reference legislation in football, how it works, why it is inserted into a contract, who has to pay it and some famous examples in addition to the current contracts with the highest termination clauses in Europe.
What is a Release Clause
A release clause (or release clause) is a contractual provision, often used in football and other professional sports, that establishes the amount of money a team or club must pay to release a player from his current contract with his current team.
How a Release Clause Works
Once the clause is paid, the contract between the player and his team is automatically terminated and the player is free to sign with another team.
The clause serves to protect the club by ensuring that the player is not easily poached by another team without adequate financial compensation.
At the same time, a footballer may also be interested in inserting a termination clause in his contract to free himself - possibly - even against the opinion of the club he belongs to.
The reference legislation in football
As previously mentioned, in Spain the termination clause is mandatory by law in footballers’ contracts. In other countries such as Italy or England, it is not mandatory and depends on the agreements between the parties.
The amount of the termination clause is established in the contract when it is signed and - ca va sans dire - can vary significantly depending on the value of the player and the initial negotiation.
In Italy, it is not correct to speak of a termination clause, but of a penalty clause. From a purely civil point of view, in fact, the termination of a contract presupposes an anomaly that occurred at the time of the conclusion of the contract and this is certainly not the case in question.
Consequently, it is more correct to speak of a penalty clause that finds its legal validity in articles 1382-1384 of the Civil Code.
Who pays the clause?
However, there is a legal aspect that in common jargon is overlooked and confused: the sum of the termination clause is paid by the footballer himself, not by the new club for which he will go to play.
Obviously, this is a real legal formality. In practice, in fact, the sum of the player’s termination clause is paid by the club that wants to purchase his rights.
However, this changes the purpose and rationale of this contractual option. Also because often the payment method and the amount of the termination clause is negotiated between the parties.
In theory, however, a player can free himself from his club by paying the clause with his own money - if he has the means -, then deciding to settle down as if he were a free agent at the end of his contract.
The highest termination clauses ever paid in football
When we talk about termination clauses in football, our thoughts immediately turn to Neymar, with PSG paying a record-breaking 222 million euros in 2017 to snatch the Brazilian from Barcelona.
In 2019, Barcelona was once again the protagonist of another record deal, this time with the roles reversed by paying the 120 million clause for Antoine Griezmann, also giving rise to a legal battle with Atletico Madrid.
In Italy, on the other hand, the South Korean Kim Min-jae recently left Napoli after Bayern Munich paid the 58 million clause, while before that Aurelio De Laurentiis had pocketed 63 million from PSG after paying the clause for Edinson Cavani.
The most famous case, however, was that of Miralem Pjanic, with Juventus - not without controversy - in 2016 shelling out the 38 million clause in the Bosnian’s contract with Roma, after having spent 90 million to free Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli.
The current contracts with the highest termination clauses in Europe
Being mandatory, the current highest termination clauses in Europe are all in Spain, where clubs - especially Barcelona after the Neymar case - protect themselves by inserting monstrous figures for their champions.
In Real Madrid, Vinicius Jr and Federico Valverde have a release clause of 1 billion euros, in Barcelona Pedri, Ronald Araujo, Raphinha, Jules Koundè, Noah Garvich, Gavi, Lamine Yaval, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres in addition to Sergio Canales of Betis.
In Italy, however, the player with the highest release clause is Rafael Leao - a whopping 150 million -, followed by Marcus Thuram who instead stops at 95 million.
For Victor Osimhen from January 2025, a clause of 81 million will be valid, which will drop to 75 million starting next July.
Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: Clausola rescissoria nel calcio, come funziona e chi la paga
