Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergei Palkin has revealed that the Ukrainian club are in talks with Tottenham over potentially recouping a fee for Monor Solomon, who the North London club signed on a free transfer in the summer.
Solomon joined Spurs back in July, with the Premier League side taking advantage of a ruling by FIFA which allowed overseas players in Ukraine to suspend their contracts following Russia’s invasion of the country.
Palkin had previously said back in July that it was unfair Shakhtar did not get compensation for the winger, who spent last season on loan at Fulham.
He added that he hoped to find some resolution during the Ukrainian club’s friendly at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium during pre-season (The Athletic).
Shakhtar are in talks with Tottenham over a fee
The 48-year-old has now admitted that he is in talks with Tottenham’s director of football administration and governance, Rebecca Caplehorn, and that he remains optimistic about getting a fee from the Lilywhites for Solomon.
He told ESPN: “We had conversations with Tottenham, with Rebecca. We agreed she will send propositions. We are now in, let’s say, a negotiation process with them.
“I hope and I believe we will find a solution. At this moment, it is quite early to tell something specific because we are on the way in these negotiations.
“We want to cover our losses. For Tottenham, it is not big money. We paid €6.5m and I don’t believe this is huge money for a club of Tottenham’s level, for a club that participates in the English Premier League. I believe it is possible to cover these losses. I am not trying to generate some kind of profit.
“I believe we will find a solution. I don’t know if they will accept €6.5m but I believe we will find a solution. From an image point of view, they don’t need this kind of case.
“This kind of case smells not so good because when you sign a free guy who should go for €20m, it is not good. We played a good friendly game, they were open with us, they helped us etc etc.
“Therefore I feel these relations, we have good relations with Tottenham and I believe these relations will help us to find a good solution. I believe in a maximum of two weeks, we will find a solution.”
Spurs Web Opinion
While one can debate the ethics of Tottenham taking advantage of the FIFA ruling and signing Solomon on a free, there does not seem to be any issue with the transfer legally.
It will be interesting to see if the North London club do pay compensation to Shakthtar, just so that they do not suffer any negative PR ramifications if the Ukraine club continue to question the fairness of the FIFA ruling.