Luis Palma, Celtic’s dynamic winger, has found himself in the middle of a heated disagreement involving his two previous clubs, prompting an official complaint to Fifa.
Since joining Celtic from Greek club, Aris, in August for a reported £3.5 million, Palma has quickly become a pivotal figure under Brendan Rodgers.
However, Vida, the club where Palma started his career in Honduras, insists the actual transfer sum was closer to £4.1 million and claims they are owed around £50,000 from Aris. This sum represents a sell-on fee from both his initial move to Greece in January 2022 and the subsequent transfer fee.
Vida’s president, Luis Cruz, is in a tough spot, revealing that this financial dispute has prevented him from compensating his current squad. As a result, he’s turned to Fifa for a resolution.
Cruz detailed the financial intricacies, telling SunSport, “The first transfer for Luis Palma was for £200,000 and we built in a 35 per-cent sell-on fee.” Despite the arrangement, Vida hasn’t seen any money following Palma’s move to Celtic, which, according to Cruz, was for 4.8 million Euros (£4.1m).
Cruz shared a bit of the backstory, expressing his initial reluctance for Palma to join Aris, “I told Luis when he was leaving us not to go to the club in Greece and I had arranged a transfer to a club in Portugal instead, but his agent insisted he go to Aris.” He lamented the financial strain the situation has caused, stating, “They haven’t paid us the full amount from the first transfer either and the sell-on fee which has hurt us financially a great deal. In total, they owe us around £50,000 from the original transfer and the sell-on.”
The player himself and Celtic can’t do anything about the current situation. Palma will likely be hoping this is resolved so his first club can afford to compensate the players who are currently playing.
This isn’t the first time in recent history there’s been a dispute between two former clubs and a Celtic player. Sead Haksabnovic was at the centre of a dispute between his former Swedish side and Rubin Kazan over payments. [Glasgow Times]
