Deal dispute no worry to Jonas

Jul 4 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

JONAS Gutierrez has vowed not to allow an escalating row with former club Real Mal-lorca to sour his move to Newcastle United after the Spanish club insisted they could take the Argentinian to court in search of compensation.

Gutierrez has taken advantage of Fifa’s Article 17 rule which allows players under the age of 28 to buy out the remainder of their contracts to enable them to join another club.

In effect, the fee Newcastle have paid – thought to be considerably less than the £7m initially reported on Wednesday – was to enable Gutierrez to become a free agent while also compensating Mallorca for their loss.

However, cash-strapped Mallorca – who are interesting former Newcastle chairman Freddie Shepherd – are furious at Gutierrez’s actions and are determined to recoup a figure nearer the £8m they quoted Portsmouth and Manchester City in January.

The player, though, is adamant he has done nothing wrong after three years with the island club and is determined not to let it ruin the excitement of his move to England.

He said: “My conscience is clear and I am not worried by the actions of Real Mallorca. I just want to play for Newcastle in the Premier League.”

Newcastle have not done anything wrong legally, but Mallorca president Vicente Grande has threatened to report both Newcastle and the player to Fifa in a bid to claim the £8m in compensation he believes they are entitled to.

“This could hurt Real Mallorca a great deal because of our financial situation,” said Grande, who knows Shepherd is waiting in the wings to take over the club if its financial situation does not improve.

“It has come at a very bad time for us. We cannot understand the attitude of the player who has done this to force a move to England. This issue is certainly not closed. The club will be contacting Fifa because we believe we have a very sound case. The minimum we want to recuperate is the 10 million euros Portsmouth offered us in the winter market.”

The issue is further complicated by the fact Gutierrez is still partly owned by Argentinian club Velez Sarsfield, who will also expect to receive part of any fee.

The 24-year-old was due to return to Velez this summer following a three-year loan deal with Mallorca, but his decision to buy out his contract means he is able to move to England instead.

Velez Sarsfield president Alvaro Balestrini explained: “Jonas Gutierrez was due to return to Velez Sarsfield on 1st July in accordance with the contracts signed with Mallorca, owners of 50% of his economic rights. After three seasons on loan at Mallorca he would have had to come back to Velez if Newcastle had not come in.”

Gutierrez is Keegan’s first signing since he returned to the club in January, but it will certainly not be his last. However, United’s manager refused to discuss Gutierrez’s arrival yesterday and insisted he will not be making any public comments regarding football-related matters for at least another fortnight.

Quite why Keegan has decided to put up a wall of silence is unknown, but United’s manager will expect to see players of similar standing arriving at the club before the start of the Premier League season on August 16.

One of those could be Gutierrez’s international team-mate Pablo Aimar. The midfielder is desperate to leave Real Zaragoza following their relegation from Spain’s top division and could be reunited with Gutierrez at St James’s Park next season.

Zaragoza are believed to want a round £6.5m for their star player, but nobody has matched that valuation and Newcastle could take advantage of the situation with an offer of around £5m

Meanwhile, Newcastle’s teenage striker Andy Carroll has been ruled out of England’s Under-19s European Championships finals campaign through injury.

Carroll is out of the tournament, which is due to start in the Czech Republic on July 14, with a heel problem. He will instead be at his club’s training ground as the rest of his team-mates return for pre-season training on Monday for a scan.