The long goodbye as Martin’s Swans exit could drag on all week
RUSSELL MARTIN’S Swansea City exit could drag on until at least the end of the week, with Southampton allegedly prepared to wait until their membership as a Championship club is confirmed before installing him as their new boss.
Martin has already agreed to take over at St Mary’s but the move has been held up by a dispute in the compensation fee owed to the Swans.
It’s understood Martin, who still has one year left on his current deal in SA1, has two compensation figures in his contract at the Swansea. com Stadium. One applies to Premier League clubs and is believed to stand at around £1.75m, the other applies to Championship sides and is around £500,000 less.
Swansea argue that while the approach for Martin was made after Southampton’s relegation to the Championship was confirmed, they were still officially a Premier League club. Southampton disagree, hence the stand-off.
Make no mistake, though. Martin’s move is still fully expected to go through, although the agonising limbo Swansea now find themselves in looks set to continue for a little while longer.
It’s now been suggested that Southampton believe they can settle the dispute by waiting until their status as a Championship club is fully ratified before pushing ahead.
If true, this saga could well drag on for another few days at least.
The EFL’s AGM is understood to take place this week, with conferences also set to be held until the end of Thursday.
As well as regulation changes, the ‘transfer of membership’ of clubs coming from the Premier League and National League will be confirmed. It means, technically, Southampton will officially become a Championship club by the end of the week.
In theory, it could then pave the way for Martin to complete his move.
Then again, it remains to be seen whether Swansea would go along with such an arrangement.
They are understandably keen to hold out for the higher figure, and may make the case that the initial approach was still made when Southampton were in the Premier League.
Clearly there are a lot of ifs and buts to be resolved, and there will no doubt be a certain level of legal wrangling behind the scenes, although it’s worth stressing again that there’s no suggestion the move is in any sort of danger of falling through at this stage.
Nevertheless, it clearly presents the club with a difficult situation. The cash sum at stake is hugely significant, given their recent financial challenges, and one can understand why the Swans are so willing to dig their heels in.
But the resulting uncertainty is unquestionably threatening to eat away at what is likely to be an important summer of rebuilding.
The longer this saga drags on, the more damage it will do.