Arnau: “The payment of Fornals’ clause allowed us to re-invest in the team”
The Club’s sports director, Francesc Arnau held a press conference at La Rosaleda to clarify certain matters relating to the departure of Pablo Fornals. “We wanted a higher clause for his renewal. We weren’t able to reach an agreement”, he says.
History
“Pablo Fornals entered the Academy during the 2012/13 season. It was Manel Casanova who went to find him in Castellón, his memory and his work will always be rewarded and valued by the Club. He passed through different levels of the youth ranks until in 2015/16 he was selected by Javi Gracia, and played 27 matches that season. One of the first issues I was faced with as sports director when I arrived, was to renew his contract. That’s what we did, and it was renewed with a clause of 11 million euros”.
Buyout clause
“The following year we again tried to renew Pablo, in April 2017. The main discussion was always the buyout clause; we tried twice, both in April and June, but weren’t able to reach an agreement. We wanted a higher clause than Pablo’s agent would accept. Since the last time we spoke in June, they decided to give themselves some time and await the situation within the market, in case a team paid the buyout clause. That is what happened, Villarreal transferred Jonatan Dos Santos to the United States and thought about Pablo as his replacement. They executed the clause before LaLiga. There was one last attempt to renew it, but it was impossible to reverse it”.
League salary
“The payment of the clause allowed us to re-invest in the team; with the incorporation of young players, such as Diego, Rolón and Cecchini. We focused on the competitive and financial factors. Also, the mechanisms of how the ‘League salary’ works, allowed us to have an improvement in that salary”.
