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Manchester United were so desperate to sign Harry Maguire in the summer that they paid almost all his transfer fee upfront.
That meant Leicester City received £80 million in one go for the defender.
United paid Leicester £85 million for Maguire, a world record fee for a defender during the last transfer window. And, breaking with precedent, all but a small proportion of that sum was paid in advance. The majority of major signings are paid in instalments, with further add-ons based on performance-based incentives, such as qualification for the Champions League.
Arguably, Leicester got the better end of the seal. Whilst Maguire has been a solid signing for United, Leicester have got the money, and have hardly missed the England man, with Turkish Cağlar Sőyüncü admirably filling his place in Leicester’s first team. They also now have plenty of funds to invest in January, as they look to maintain their challenge for first-team football.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.