Was it simply to get a transfer fee? Cant think of any other reason.
Possibly, but compensation is due for players under 24 if they have been offered a contract regardless of such an option, and the club stated that they had to offer a new contract “to retain compensation rights should the midfielder decide to move on”, which suggests that the option itself didn’t achieve this.
I can understand the club not wanting to go to a tribunal, but they state that “the two clubs negotiated over a transfer fee to mitigate the need for a tribunal”, which suggests that the option didn’t help on that score either.
