Ten of the strangest contract clauses in football – From Firmino’s anti-Arsenal proviso to Prior’s sheep testicle deal
Release clauses, buy-back options and sell-on agreements are all standard parts of a modern-day football contract. But every so often some truly baffling stipulations are squeezed into the small print of deals handed out by clubs from all over the world. Getty Contracts for footballers can be incredibly complicated[/caption] Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain famously had a clause in his Arsenal deal that meant the Gunners would have to pay his former club Southampton £10,000 every time he played 20 minutes or more. Spanish outlet El Mundo revealed in 2021 that now-Inter Miami star Lionel Messi had to ‘integrate into Catalan society and culture’ in his final Barcelona contract by learning the language but was available on a free transfer if the region became independent of Spain. The rise of superagents and various player demands means standard contract negotiations are becoming increasingly complex. However, it will still take some effort to top the clauses inserted to get the following ten deals over the line… Spencer Prior Cardiff City’s eccentric former owner Sam Hamman was renowned for the unique clauses he added to his players’ contracts. And none more so than Prior’s signing from Manchester City was conditional on him eating sheep’s testicles – a delicacy in Hamman’s homeland Lebanon. He said: “It must be the strangest contract in the history of football. But I’ll try anything once.” Prior did indeed eat the dish with a pinch of salt, lemon and a little parsley… before it was later revealed that he was served slow-cooked chicken! Prior with a ball at his feet… Stefan Schwarz The former Arsenal player was committed to signing up for one of the first commercial flights to space when he joined Sunderland from Valencia in 1999. However, the Black Cats were less keen on this idea and inserted a clause in Schwarz’s contract that would nullify his deal should he leave the planet. Sunderland’s then-chief executive, John Fickling, said: “One of Schwarz’s advisers has, indeed, got one of the places on the commercial flights. “And we were worried that he may wish to take Stefan along with him. So we thought we’d better get things tied up now rather than at the time of the flight.” Schwarz after NASA asks him to raise his hand if he wants to go to space Giuseppe Reina The German thought he was onto a winner when he told Arminia Bielefeld to build him a house for every year of his deal when he signed in 1996. The club agreed to his demands but made sure to take Reina at his word as he never specified the size or type of property he wanted every season. Bielefeld ended up building a house for their new striker out of LEGO for each year of his three-year contract – not the best way to keep him happy but funny nonetheless. Getty Reina wheeling away in celebration after Bielefeld builds him a LEGO townhouse[/caption] Rolf-Christel Guie-Mien A lot of footballers are looking out for their family’s best interests when signing a new deal with a club but Guie-Mien took it one step further. The Congolese international instructed Eintracht Frankfurt to arrange cooking classes for his wife as part of his deal to join them in 1999. The midfielder was insistent that his other half’s improved culinary skills would help him settle into German football better. To be fair to Guie-Mien he then did spend the rest of his playing career until he retired in 2012 in Germany across six different clubs. Guie-Mien was full of energy in Frankfurt after trying his wife’s famous pasta dishGetty Dennis Bergkamp The Arsenal legend earned the nickname ‘Non-Flying Dutchman’ during his time in north London for his clause preventing aeroplane travel. Bergkamp first publicly admitted his fear of flying during his debut campaign at the Gunners, with the decision costing him £100,000 in pay. The Ajax icon chose to travel by train or other modes of transport wherever possible and missed many away European games as a result. He elaborated on his fear in his autobiography, revealing that his experience of small planes at Inter Milan was the main reason behind his phobia. Arsenal legend Bergkamp earned the nickname ‘Non-Flying Dutchman’ during his time in north LondonGetty Images - Getty Luis Suarez The mercurial Uruguayan’s past behaviour caused Barcelona to add in a ‘no biting’ clause when they agreed a deal to sign the striker from Liverpool. Suarez was already banned when he arrived at the Nou Camp in 2014 for taking a chomp out of Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup that summer. He also took bites out of PSV Eindhoven star Otman Bakkal and Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during his time at Ajax and Liverpool respectively. Ex-Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu denied the existence of a clause at the time but he has since been accused of lying about the club’s financial state by his successor Joan Laporta. Luis Suarez infamously bit Branislav IvanovicAFP - Getty Mario Balotelli The enigmatic Italian also necessitated the inclusion of contract clauses sur
Release clauses, buy-back options and sell-on agreements are all standard parts of a modern-day football contract.
But every so often some truly baffling stipulations are squeezed into the small print of deals handed out by clubs from all over the world.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain famously had a clause in his Arsenal deal that meant the Gunners would have to pay his former club Southampton £10,000 every time he played 20 minutes or more.
Spanish outlet El Mundo revealed in 2021 that now-Inter Miami star Lionel Messi had to ‘integrate into Catalan society and culture’ in his final Barcelona contract by learning the language but was available on a free transfer if the region became independent of Spain.
The rise of superagents and various player demands means standard contract negotiations are becoming increasingly complex.
However, it will still take some effort to top the clauses inserted to get the following ten deals over the line…
Spencer Prior
Cardiff City’s eccentric former owner Sam Hamman was renowned for the unique clauses he added to his players’ contracts.
And none more so than Prior’s signing from Manchester City was conditional on him eating sheep’s testicles – a delicacy in Hamman’s homeland Lebanon.
He said: “It must be the strangest contract in the history of football. But I’ll try anything once.”
Prior did indeed eat the dish with a pinch of salt, lemon and a little parsley… before it was later revealed that he was served slow-cooked chicken!
Stefan Schwarz
The former Arsenal player was committed to signing up for one of the first commercial flights to space when he joined Sunderland from Valencia in 1999.
However, the Black Cats were less keen on this idea and inserted a clause in Schwarz’s contract that would nullify his deal should he leave the planet.
Sunderland’s then-chief executive, John Fickling, said: “One of Schwarz’s advisers has, indeed, got one of the places on the commercial flights.
“And we were worried that he may wish to take Stefan along with him. So we thought we’d better get things tied up now rather than at the time of the flight.”
Giuseppe Reina
The German thought he was onto a winner when he told Arminia Bielefeld to build him a house for every year of his deal when he signed in 1996.
The club agreed to his demands but made sure to take Reina at his word as he never specified the size or type of property he wanted every season.
Bielefeld ended up building a house for their new striker out of LEGO for each year of his three-year contract – not the best way to keep him happy but funny nonetheless.
Rolf-Christel Guie-Mien
A lot of footballers are looking out for their family’s best interests when signing a new deal with a club but Guie-Mien took it one step further.
The Congolese international instructed Eintracht Frankfurt to arrange cooking classes for his wife as part of his deal to join them in 1999.
The midfielder was insistent that his other half’s improved culinary skills would help him settle into German football better.
To be fair to Guie-Mien he then did spend the rest of his playing career until he retired in 2012 in Germany across six different clubs.
Dennis Bergkamp
The Arsenal legend earned the nickname ‘Non-Flying Dutchman’ during his time in north London for his clause preventing aeroplane travel.
Bergkamp first publicly admitted his fear of flying during his debut campaign at the Gunners, with the decision costing him £100,000 in pay.
The Ajax icon chose to travel by train or other modes of transport wherever possible and missed many away European games as a result.
He elaborated on his fear in his autobiography, revealing that his experience of small planes at Inter Milan was the main reason behind his phobia.
Luis Suarez
The mercurial Uruguayan’s past behaviour caused Barcelona to add in a ‘no biting’ clause when they agreed a deal to sign the striker from Liverpool.
Suarez was already banned when he arrived at the Nou Camp in 2014 for taking a chomp out of Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup that summer.
He also took bites out of PSV Eindhoven star Otman Bakkal and Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during his time at Ajax and Liverpool respectively.
Ex-Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu denied the existence of a clause at the time but he has since been accused of lying about the club’s financial state by his successor Joan Laporta.
Mario Balotelli
The enigmatic Italian also necessitated the inclusion of contract clauses surrounding his bad behaviour – in a deal involving Suarez!
Balotelli was earmarked as the man Liverpool trusted to replace the Premier League’s top scorer in 2014 after AC Milan had decided to offload him.
But the Reds had concerns about Super Mario following stories of throwing darts at people and nearly burning his house down with fireworks.
Therefore, Liverpool put a good conduct clause in his contract stating that he’d have to leave the club if he stepped out of line.
Roberto Firmino
The Liverpool trifecta finishes with the now-Saudi Pro League star in a transfer once again put in motion by Suarez.
Reds owner John W Henry was incensed by Arsenal’s infamous £40million + £1 bid to poach Suarez from Anfield in 2013.
And the billionaire American was still smarting at the attempt two years later when Liverpool agreed a deal to sign Firmino from Hoffenheim.
The Al-Ahli’s forward’s first contract with the Merseysiders carried a €98million (£82.5m) release clause ‘if the interested club is not Arsenal’.
Ronaldinho
The former Ballon d’Or winner was an exception to a standard nightclub clause in his contract – in that his allowed him to continue partying.
Far from encouraging Ronaldinho to not go clubbing and focus on his football, the Brazil icon had a different agenda when he left AC Milan in 2011.
The World Cup winner had Flamengo stipulate in his contract that he was allowed to hit the town twice a week without getting a fine or other repercussions.
Neil Ruddock
Crystal Palace had a desperate measure to ensure ‘Razor’ was in shape when he arrived a Selhurst Park towards the end of his career.
Ex-Eagles chairman and talkSPORT host Simon Jordan wrote in his autobiography: “On approaching West Ham I discovered he was a free transfer, although he did have a weighty salary — which was not the only weighty thing about him.
“Harry Redknapp, the West Ham manager at the time, told me to put in a weight clause.
“So I decided to put a 10 per cent penalty on the contract we were proposing to offer him if he was over the recommended weight of 99.8kg, which by the way was still frigging huge.”
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