Hooray For Unsubstantiated Claims! They Never Get Old!

By: Taylor Rockwell | June 5th, 2009

Sigh… Are reports linking Slave with Franco FC even news anymore? I don’t know, but Franco FC vice-president Fernando Tapias certainly got himself a few headlines today. In an interview with Spanish Radio station Cadena COPE, Tapias confirmed that Franco FC will have to pay Slave a fee of around £26 million if they fail to sign him this summer. This statement confirms earlier claims by ousted president Ramon Calderon that a pre-contract, facilitated by Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes, exists but is believed to expire at the end of June. According to “sources” Franco would have to pay United €90 million for the transfer, or forfeit around a €30 million penalty (to Slave) if they did not.

Other reports (actually, in some cases, the same reports) are indicating that all of this is a moot point because Slave has a get-out clause in his contract. Club President Florentino Perez may also be banking on this idea, stating, “In Spain there are get-out clauses. In many cases that eliminates negotiations. It seems in the case of Ronaldo he does have a get-out clause and it means if the player brings the money stipulated in the clause he can go. It’s what I’ve been told, I’ve not seen it.” From what I’ve heard, Slave’s get-out clause is set at around £75 million. He may be well paid, but I doubt he’s got that kind of scratch laying around… and I don’t think Fergie will take a check.

There are some obvious points to all of this that I think warrant mentioning:
1) In a few years, if I asked who Ramon Calderon was, my guess is that most people wouldn’t say the former President of Real Madrid who got them a couple of titles. They would say, “The ex-President of Madrid who failed to sign Slave, Kaka, and Fabregas.” Calderon was ousted earlier this season, and now in steps Perez (el architecto de los Galacticos). Perez isn’t an idiot. He’s an arrogant megalomaniac, but he’s definitely a man with some brains. So he won’t come out and say “We’ll sign Slave no matter what.” He won’t campaign on the promise that Slave will play in Madrid come next season. Instead, he makes innocuous statements to the media and lets them go crazy. I’m certain that he’ll make inquire about Slave or even make a fairly massive offer, but we probably won’t get a whiff of it until the deal is done.

2) I would love to hate on Slave for all of this, but I can’t. All along I’ve said that all I want from him is a firm declaration of where his heart lies. Obviously, that would go a long way towards quelling some of these reports. But it certainly wouldn’t stop them completely. Look at the Kaka situation… from the outset, he has ALWAYS stated that he wants to remain in Milan. I’ve never heard him go back and forth or change his position, but that hasn’t stopped the media from linking him to other clubs every 443 seconds. Newspapers are struggling and the best way to get people to buy is to print outlandish headlines with questionable backing material. How often do you think a “source” is the club janitor’s deadbeat brother-in-law?

3) I love Manchester United. And, honestly, I kind of love David Gill right now. There are a lot of clubs out there who would constantly issue statements or hold press conferences to denounce these rumors. You know what that does? Make the rumors seem more legitimate. If I were a suspect in a high profile murder, how would you feel if suddenly I held a press conference publicly declaring my innocence over and over again? Most likely you would think that I did it. It’s a bit odd, but it seems that that’s how things work these days; guilty until proven innocent. So, until the season begins, there will always be reports linking Slave with Franco FC. Or Madrid. Or Inter. Or wherever else there are people who want attention. However, if United keep their response to a minimum, all it does is make the other clubs look even more ridiculous by comparison. So tomorrow, when Perez claims that Slave has been digging a tunnel that from Manchester to Madrid a la Andy in the Shawshank Redemption, I won’t bat an eye. I’ll just wonder if he also used Raquel Welch to cover his tracks.