Football contracts are a ritual when new signings are made but some of them can take a weird turn.
The signing of Robin Gosens from Atlanta Bergamo was quite a routine affair for Inter Milan, involving usual paperwork before the latest news had shed light of an unexpected ink drop on it.
Inter Milan’s weird goal clause
Gosens’ transfer was initially believed to be an exchange deal for a 6 months loan to Inter Milan, and along with it, an obligation to buy by Inter. But now the news is that the loan is for 18 months, and the obligation to buy will be honoured once Inter Milan scores its first goal in the 2022-23 season. Here is what the weird clause entails.
News #Gosens: Crazy goal-clause revealed! It’s a 18-months-loan, not 6. But as soon as @Inter scores the first goal in a competitive match 2022/23, they have got an obligation to buy. #Inter will pay the €25m transfer fee (+add-ons) by the end of the contract 2026. @SkySportNews
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) January 29, 2022
When Nerazzurri scores its first goal in the season, which will be the case obviously, his loan period becomes a long term contract till 2026, and they will be sending €25 million and the add-ons in instalments to Atlanta Bergamo.
Goal clauses aren’t usual. Inter Milan has perhaps included this clause to get some leeway while handling this huge transfer. It will give them some breather financially before the start of the next season.
This is not the first time curious clauses have been found out in the deal. Here are some of the top weird clauses in the game’s history.
5 other contract clauses that don’t quite sit right
- Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s transfer to Arsenal from Southampton made the star player be used only as a substitute. There was a clause in the deal signed by Arsenal, wherein, Arsenal had to pay €10,000 every time he was on the field for 20 minutes or more.
- Giuseppe Reina inserted one of the weirdest clauses when he was signing a contract with Arminia Bielefeld. He wanted the club to build him a house for every year he was about to play for them. But since he never mentioned the details of the house, he was gifted with a house of legos!
- Liverpool when signing Stig Inge Bjornebye included the clause which prohibited him from skiing. Skiing was his childhood favourite game and Liverpool made sure he never got near any skiing during his tenure with the club.
- One of the bizarre clauses came to light when Congolese midfielder Rolf-Christel Guie-Mien signed with the German club Eintracht Frankfurt. He had included a cooking-class clause in it. By which his wife will be made to take cooking classes and learn new dishes.
- When Suarez was signed by Barcelona in 2014 they included a no-bite clause! The Uruguayan star has been known to bite the opponents in some instances. Barcelona made sure no such incidents happen during his stint at their club by including a no-bite clause.
