Motherwell count riches after Moult gamble pays off

LONG before Bruno Alves started aiming kicks at him, Louis Moult was worried about a slap in the face from his own club. Opportunity knocked for the striker when Aberdeen called in mid-July with an offer of a £300,000 transfer fee plus add-ons for a player entering the last year of his contract.

However, the sums did not add up to sensible business for Motherwell. Why rake in that money when the worst case scenario of being stripped of Moult’s goals might be financially crippling relegation?

The upside? Refusing to cash in and grab a huge return on their £50,000 outlay to Wrexham of two years ago has been like a lottery win for Motherwell. Moult (right) netting doubles against Aberdeen and Rangers in the last two rounds of the Betfred Cup secured them a place in next month’s final.

The promise of more in the league and the form of Stephen Robinson’s side this season suggests that a high finish in the Ladbrokes Premiership will further fill the Fir Park coffers with prize money.

Telling your best player he cannot leave for a bigger club could have backfired.

Yet chief executive Alan Burrows can now count TV cash and the more lucrative gate receipts from the cup run to go with either a £115,000 runners-up reward or the far less likely £250,000 winners haul from the Celtic clash.

‘The gamble, if you can call it that, has paid off,’ said Burrows. ‘The decision is absolutely vindicated. For us to knock back an offer like that when we don’t have someone who can write the club cheques when required means there is a risk attached.

‘As directors, it is your financial duty to look after the best interests. Selling players or cup runs is the only way to make money for us. This run has raised enough capital, at the absolute minimum, for us to be cash positive between now and May 2019. That shows just how lucrative it is. ‘What we’ve made now dwarfs what we turned down from Aberdeen.’ However, despite talk of risks, it all made perfect sense to Burrows and the board at the time. Moult had scored 18 goals in each of his first two seasons with Motherwell. In the most recent campaign, that was only good enough to keep the Steelmen three points above 11th place. Keeping the 25-year-old’s head right initially was the only concern because, in terms of talent, Motherwell were sure they could count on the Englishman.

Burrows said: ‘Louis hopefully felt he could be standing on the verge of something great — if not with this club then, long term, from his own point of view, with a lucrative deal at a good level that allows him to earn the riches from the game that his talent and story deserves.

‘He knows it’s the last year of his contract anyway. It opens up windows of flexibility — a transfer in January if there is another bid. A pre-contract can be signed. An add-on from ourselves as we’d put several to him. Or, in May, there’s freedom of movement to get the best contract wherever it may be.

‘In terms of how all that impacted on Louis when that message was delivered, we have a good relationship. We “get” Louis Moult. And we understand that he’s keen to explore possibilities for himself to look after his young family.

‘Motherwell has been good for him. He’d be first to admit that. For the management team, then and now, he’s been magnificent.

‘Players with his goal record are not easy to find for a club with our resources. Both of us are in a good place with each other.’