Recently I watched a video on youtube which was about the strange records in football contracts. Some of them were quite shocking for me. I decided to collect the weirdest one in my opinion and present it to you. Hope you will find it interesting and funny. I can't even imagine how they came up with some of the clauses.
- First one is Neymar's contract.
The biggest football news which took place in 2017 concerned the most expensive transfer, which was of course Neymar's transfer. Neymar signed 5-years contract with Paris Saint-Germain. The record transfer cost 222 million euros. There were also rumours if it was in accordance with the financial Fair Play rules. Beside the gigantic costs there were also special requirements that were written in the contract.
Neymar's teammates were forbidden to foul him too much during trainings. But that's not all, Neymar was the only one who was released from the obligation to play in defensive while his team is plays a match.
Sounds unbelievable? Well, you will change your mind when you will read the rest...
2. Spencer Prior's delicious meal...
Spencer Prior who was not so popular English footballer was very shocked while reading a contract he was about to sign. Sam Hammam, the owner of Cardiff City F.C., wanted to hire Spencer. While reading a contract, Spencer noted something strange: by signing the contract he was obliging to eat the sheep's kernels. No one knows what it was meant to be, maybe Hammam wanted to check how much Spencer is willing to do in order to play in the club. Fortunately it turned out that it was a joke. Joke? Seriously? Can you even imagine to eat it? Supposedly, Prior kindly asked if testicles can be cooked with lemon, salt and parsley.
3. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's the most expensive 20 minutes.
Former Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, so much wanted to find Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in his team that club owners decided to do practically everything to gain Alex. Player was bought for almost 13 million pounds and beside this team authorities agreed to send Southampton (Alex's previous club) 10 thousand pounds for every 20 minutes performance on the pitch. So now you know why Wenger rarely allowed Alex to play from the first minute of the game. Usually, coach let him to enter into the field after the 70th minute of the match.
4. Neil "Razor" Ruddock - Contract of great (in this case heavy) importance
Nail Ruddock is a former football player who played as a central defender. Due to his large shapes, huge defender also had a heavy to meet clause in the contract. He couldn't exceed the weight of 99,8 kg because then he would be punished. Sadly for him it has happened 8 times within six months. In the end it turned out that this contract is not the best one for the Englishman and he played in this club only one season.
5. No to cosmonauts - Stefan Schwarz
Club authorities decided to forbid Stefan Shwarz fly spaces. There are two possible options why they decided to do so. First one is that in 1999 Schwarz's adviser had already reserved a seat for one of the first commercial flights into space, which was planned to take place in 2002. Club authorities were so concerned that the Swedish helper would fly into space along with his adviser or instead of him, that they decided to forbid him to do so in the contract. Second possibility is that while 'interview' he was asked where he would like to be in 5 years from now, assuming that the dreams come true. Shwarz told that his dream is to fly into space. That's why club authorities decided to write in the contract this clause. Just in case.
Moving on to Spain where footballers can count on various bonuses and extras, the first one on my list is:
6. Rafael Van Der Vaart - no to red shoes
Rafael Van Der Vaart signed a contract with Real Betis and agreed not to play in red shoes.
Why is that? Well, the red colour is the colour of Sevilla team, the Real Betis’ biggest opponent. Thanks to wearing shoes except the red ones, Rafael earned additional 1,6 million Euro (114 thousand euros per month). Who wouldn't agree on that?
7. Thomas Vermaelen's Spanish lessons
Thomas Vermaelen joined Barcelona in 9 of August 2014. Just two days later he got injured. Most of his time he spent in doctor's offices. Nevertheless he was able to earn additional money for learning Spanish. Barcelona authorities promised him additional 100 thousand euro if he will show the eagerness to learn. Taking into account that he wasn’t playing too much, he had a lot of time to learn.
8. And the last but not least, a little warning for everyone. Otherwise you can end up as German striker, Giuseppe Reina.
In 1966 he was negotiating his deal with, German club, Arminia Bielefeld. He wanted to receive a new home for every year of playing or he will not sign a deal. Club authorities agreed on that and said okay we have a deal. Reina spent three seasons in the club. If you think that he could travel from property to property, you are wrong. Indeed he received three houses, however none of them were suitable for accomodation. Reina forgot to precise the size of the house and instead of a fully dimensional house he received a mini house made from Lego bricks. Nevertheless the club kept his word...
What do you think about it? Which one is the weirdest one in your opinion? Or maybe you have heard about some other strange contract clauses? Please share your thoughts in comments.
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