Kosice would not be entitled to money

On the eve of his 29th birthday, Nemanja Matic received a fine gift in the form of a transfer to Manchester United

Rumours about this had surfaced a year earlier. Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho took over Manchester United at the end of May, and during the summer there was open speculation that he would bring in his favourite, Nemanja Matic, to Old Trafford. It remained only a theory. The player himself told our daily that he would indeed change clubs in the winter. Although there were reports of interest from Real Madrid, the real suitors were mainly Man United and Juventus, who, after selling Paul Pogba to Manchester United, needed to fill a gap in midfield. In the end, nothing happened. Juventus easily won the league title, Chelsea coach Antonio Conte kept Matic, and the Serbian celebrated yet another title at Stamford Bridge — his third. Given that Chelsea have won only six league titles in their history, that’s a pretty good strike rate.

This summer, the paths of Jose Mourinho and Nemanja Matic crossed again. On the eve of his 29th birthday, the Serbian footballer joined one of the world’s most famous clubs. “If I had remained Chelsea manager, I would never have let him go. A tall central midfielder, and a left-footer at that, I would never have sold him,” Mourinho said of Matic’s move to Benfica. It is worth noting that at the time, Chelsea were managed by Carlo Ancelotti. Mourinho admitted Matic’s spell in Portugal was positive, but felt it could have been handled differently. On the other hand, upon Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge, he welcomed Matic not as an attacking midfielder, but as a defensive one — a change credited to then-Benfica coach Jorge Jesus.

“Nemanja is a player of Manchester United and of Jose Mourinho. He represents everything we want in a footballer: loyalty, consistency, ambition, and team spirit,” said Mourinho of his new acquisition. Matic responded: “I am happy to strengthen Manchester United. Working again with Jose Mourinho is an opportunity you cannot turn down.” At one time, Matic was even granted Slovak citizenship as a 20th birthday present. Matic first made a name for himself at Kosice, where he arrived from the Serbian third division as an unknown player. He transferred for €44.7 million. Did or do Kosice have any claim to money from this transfer?

“Training compensation applies only to transfers made up to the end of the season of a player’s 23rd birthday. So it doesn’t apply in Matic’s case. On the other hand, the solidarity payment applies to all international transfers involving a transfer fee. It is distributed among the clubs where the player was registered between his 12th and 23rd birthdays,” explained well-known sports lawyer and FIFA intermediary Jozef Tokos. In other words, 5 percent of the transfer fee is set aside for the solidarity payment, divided as follows: the first four years from age 12 at 0.25 percent each, and the remaining years up to age 23 at 0.5 percent each.

Since Matic spent two and a half years at Kosice, they could have been entitled to 1.25 percent of the transfer fee — €558,750 — but: “This applies only to international transfers. The solidarity payment for domestic transfers is only due if the national association’s regulations state that foreign clubs are entitled to it. Some countries have such national solidarity systems, but for the English FA this does not apply, so transfers between English clubs do not involve solidarity payments. Furthermore, both training compensation and solidarity payments apply only to clubs participating in organised football. Since FC VSS Kosice are not in any competition, any entitlement to this money would automatically pass to the Slovak Football Association,” Tokos added.

The midfielder, with 32 international caps, is United’s third major signing before the new season. Before him, they had already brought in 23-year-old Swedish defender Victor Lindelöf from Benfica for €35 million and 24-year-old Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku for €84 million.