Poor Martin Ortega carried the whole world's pain on his shoulders, Thursday morning, in the press room of Leganès. The director general of the club in the southern suburbs of Madrid was there to formalize the departure of Martin Braithwaite, a happy Barça representative in his quest for an offensive medical joker. The leader took the opportunity to denounce a badly worn system which his club will pay the bill.
"We had no intention of negotiating for the transfer," said Ortega. The current regulations go against equality between clubs, and this is a situation which causes irreparable damage for us. "
📹 RUEDA DE PRENSA | Summary of the declarations of Martín Ortega, director general of CD Leganés, tras la baja de Martin Braithwaite. pic.twitter.com/JgXp8Ggmcj
- CD Leganés (@CDLeganes) February 20, 2020We can understand it. His club, who had asked nothing of anyone, finds himself amputated of the player who had scored a third of his goals since the start of the season (6 out of 18) while playing maintenance. He could do nothing, Barça having set the table the amount of the release clause of the Dane, namely 18 million euros. In addition, he had already seen his other goalscorer, the Moroccan Youssef En-Nesyri, leave during the winter transfer window, for which Sevilla FC paid the 20 million euros necessary to lift its clause.
"We don't want to let it go. The damage to the club is enormous. We cannot understand this system in which a club can carry out an operation unilaterally and transfer its problem to another club ", insists Ortega, which specifies that it asked the Spanish Federation to be able to recruit in its turn. No chance of success, otherwise it would be endless. The club from which Leganès would buy a player would also ask for the right to recruit, and so on.
The little club robbed by the big bad guy?
However, the theory of the small club robbed by the nasty big club does not hold water. Or in any case, it is not as simple as that. "In Spain, many modest clubs like Leganès, Getafe or Eibar have been built like this, by putting in clauses that are affordable enough to make them attractive for larger clubs," explains Benjamin Chahine, editor of the FuriaLiga website, who closely follows Spanish football. This technique has enabled them to regularly make good sales, around 20-30 million euros, and they need it. "
These reasonably priced clauses are also an argument for attracting players who may have been reluctant to come. In summary, the blow is hard because the transfer occurs outside the transfer window, but it's the game. By adopting this strategy, these clubs know very well that they are exposed. Leganès had also started to secure his rear this winter by being loaned two attackers, Miguel Angel Guerrero and Roger Assalé.
"Leganès will not be traumatized by this transfer"
As for the omnipotence of Barça in Spain, nothing new under the sun. The Catalan club does almost what it wants, like Real Madrid, but it is completely assumed by the authorities. "This is how the championship works, like how Javier Tebas [the president of the League] and the Federation see the Liga," adds our specialist. These two clubs are light years ahead of all the others. This story just validates something that everyone knows and reflects the reality of Spanish football today. "
There will not be many people to come and cry with Martin Ortega. Who in any case does not really believe himself in what he says, assures Benjamin Chahine: "It is a posture, he knows that it is not such a bad move as that." Leganès will not be traumatized by this transfer. And Braithwaite says he did well, finally, to negotiate this small clause at 18 million.
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