U.S. men’s national team midfielder Johnny Cardoso was the subject of the strangest deal on transfer deadline day with Tottenham Hotspur picking up an option to buy the player in the future as part of a deal with Real Betis.
The agreement stems from Spurs’ deal with Betis to offload Giovani Lo Celso, who is expected to join the Spanish club in a deal that is expected to be completed before the deadline. Betis will reportedly pay a transfer fee of around $4.5 million, per the Evening Standard, but that covers just 50% of the value of the deal, per football.london — Betis will make up the difference with a 50% sell-on clause for Lo Celso.
In exchange, Tottenham have picked up the right to sign Cardoso for a fixed fee of around $33 million, considered by both parties to be a discounted price for his services. If Spurs opt not to sign him, though, they will have a sell-on clause that allows them to earn a certain percentage of a future transfer.
The 22-year-old Cardoso is considered a rising star for the USMNT, cracking this summer’s Copa America roster but played just 68 minutes before the team crashed out of the group stage of the competition. He eyes a spot in the USA’s midfield, which could use a defensive midfielder as 2022 World Cup captain Tyler Adams continues another spell on the sidelines with a back injury.
It is a peculiar transfer to assess at face value, as there is no guarantee that Cardoso will join the Premier League side attached to this transaction. Spurs perhaps come out as the initial winners of the move since they will either acquire a player who could fill a need or pocket some cash on someone who never even played for them.
Should the deal go through, though, Cardoso would complete one of the splashiest transfers of a USMNT player in recent years, while Betis would also come out as a big winner. They signed the midfielder for a fee of around $6.3 million from Brazil’s Internacional last winter and would make a massive profit if this deal is completed.
How common is this kind of deal?
Premier League clubs rarely engage in this type of agreement, though one in which clubs agree on a fixed fee of sorts beforehand is not inherently uncommon in other parts of the soccer world. Sometimes they take on the form of a buy-back clause, in which the selling club has an option to re-sign the player they just transferred to the buying club. That, though, would not be the case for Cardoso’s potential transfer to Tottenham.
A club picking up a sell-on clause for a player who never actually signed for them, though, is incredibly uncommon, especially at the top levels of the game.
