Clubs Turn to Hammonds as Premiership Transfer Window Closes

In the football transfer window that has just passed, several Premiership and other football clubs turned to Hammonds' Sports Law Group to advise them on a wide range of issues relating to their players.

In total, six English Premiership clubs, including Aston Villa and Manchester City, as well as one Scottish Premiership club and a couple of Championship clubs were formally advised.

The Group was asked to prepare not only straightforward domestic and international transfer agreements, compromise agreements and image rights agreements, but also advise on more complex issues. These included: warning off a club that had been 'tapping' a player; ensuring that an agreement (structured carefully so as to reduce tax) locked a very promising young player into a club; and advising on "feeder club" arrangements, whereby players are moved from one country to another always under the control of an English club. Several high-profile work permit applications were also completed by the firm.

The level of work reflects the Group' s reputation in innovative and complex player and transfer work.

Stephen Sampson, Head of the Sports Law Group, said, "This shows the breadth and depth of the team advising these clubs, and that, for a large swathe of the Premiership, we are their firm of first choice. In the last week of the window, two partners and two associates were working predominantly on issues for several clubs. Cumulatively, the value of the players in the deals or permit applications in which we were involved topped £50 million."