West Ham news: Stefan Borson surprised by ‘strange’ transfer agreement
West Ham handing Max Kilman a seven-year contract is a “strange” decision following his big-money move from Wolves this summer.
That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider West Ham will still only be able to amortise the 27-year-old over a five-year period after the Premier League closed the loophole on longer contracts last year.
The governing body moved to cap amortisation at five years after Chelsea handed out eight-year deals to some of their new signings.
But West Ham still decided to give Kilman a seven-year contract after Julen Lopetegui returned to his former club to sign the ex-Wolves captain in a £40million deal.
National League side Maidenhead United have received £4million as part of the transfer after including a sell-on clause in the deal that saw the centre-back move to Molineux for £40,000 in 2018.
West Ham have little benefit in handing Max Kilman seven-year deal
Borson admitted his surprise at West Ham handing Kilman such a long deal without having the amortisation benefit.
“It’s quite a strange decision,” Borson told Football Insider.
“We all saw what Chelsea did with long-term contracts and we know the principle driver of those deals was initially the amortisation spread over a longer period than has historically been the case.
“That’s now been stopped by the league, so from an amortisation perspective, West Ham will still only be able to amortise the player over five years regardless of his contract being seven years because it’s capped.
“All it really does is binds them into a contract with Kilman, probably to the point where they don’t need to renegotiate his terms unless he puts pressure on West Ham to do so.
“For Kilman, it gives him nice security until he’s 34, which any player of his age would probably be bang up for.
“It is surprising. I don’t really see the logic of it particularly. I think it just gives the clubs a very big obligation moving forward.
“If you ended up with loads of players on seven or eight-year contracts, especially teams that are lower down the league, if you end up getting relegated in one of those seasons, you give yourselves a big issue because you have a contractual obligation around these contracts.
“A seven-year contract for a player like Kilman does seem surprising when there is no amortisation benefit. I can’t think of another logical reason for it.”
In other news, West Ham expect defender bids after £35million reveal.
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