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Winston Reid set to leave West Ham for free and join Spurs

mawspurs

Staff
Jun 29, 2003
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17,740
West Ham Center back Winston Reid has risked the wrath of the fans as he is close to agreeing a pre-contract with the Tottenham that will see him join them for free in the summer.

Read the full article at The Hard Tackle
 

TottenhamMattSpur

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
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He can sign for whoever he wants within 6 months of his contract being up. Makes no difference if it's another EPL club.
I can't find any literature at the moment, but I'm 99% sure you can only sign an actual, legally binding Pre contract in the six month period before your contact expires, with an overseas club.
You cannot do the same with a team in the same league. Hence it wouldn't be a pre contract, merely a gentleman's agreement to sign. Non Enforceable, thus utterly pointless.
 

Roscilous

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2004
630
624
I can't find any literature at the moment, but I'm 99% sure you can only sign an actual, legally binding Pre contract in the six month period before your contact expires, with an overseas club.
You cannot do the same with a team in the same league. Hence it wouldn't be a pre contract, merely a gentleman's agreement to sign. Non Enforceable, thus utterly pointless.

The enforceability of a pre-contract will depend on the specific terms of the agreement. Pre-contracts are generally not binding under English law as they are usually marked “Subject to Contract” and are simply a commitment by the parties to enter into a later contract. The difference between a pre-contract and a contract is that the parties to the pre-contract have not agreed the essential terms and so the pre-contract does not reflect the final agreement. However, if a pre-contract contains all the essential terms that have been agreed, then the pre-contract is effectively a final contract and is likely to be binding.

FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber (“DRC”) has had to determine on a number of occasions whether a pre-contract has binding effect when a dispute between a club and a player has arisen. The DRC has generally held that a pre-contract is binding if it contains essential terms such as the duration of the contract, remuneration and additional benefits. Another factor taken into account by the DRC is whether the pre-contract has come into effect. If the pre-contract has been terminated prior to when it is due to take effect, then the DRC has been reluctant to find that the pre-contract is binding whilst if the parties have already begun to perform their obligations under the pre-contract prior to any termination, then this is usually evidence to prove that the parties intended to be bound by the terms of the pre-contract. In an attempt to release themselves from the obligations under a pre-contract, parties have attempted to allege that the validity of a pre-contract was conditional upon a player successfully completing a medical or obtaining a work permit however the DRC has rejected all such arguments on the basis that Article 18(4) of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players 2012 prevents the validity of a contract between a player and a club being “subject to a successful medical examination and/or the grant of a work permit.”

There is nothing against a player signing a pre-contract with another club from the same league, as long as it is within 6 months of the players contract ending.
 

TottenhamMattSpur

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
10,925
16,007
The enforceability of a pre-contract will depend on the specific terms of the agreement. Pre-contracts are generally not binding under English law as they are usually marked “Subject to Contract” and are simply a commitment by the parties to enter into a later contract. The difference between a pre-contract and a contract is that the parties to the pre-contract have not agreed the essential terms and so the pre-contract does not reflect the final agreement. However, if a pre-contract contains all the essential terms that have been agreed, then the pre-contract is effectively a final contract and is likely to be binding.

FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber (“DRC”) has had to determine on a number of occasions whether a pre-contract has binding effect when a dispute between a club and a player has arisen. The DRC has generally held that a pre-contract is binding if it contains essential terms such as the duration of the contract, remuneration and additional benefits. Another factor taken into account by the DRC is whether the pre-contract has come into effect. If the pre-contract has been terminated prior to when it is due to take effect, then the DRC has been reluctant to find that the pre-contract is binding whilst if the parties have already begun to perform their obligations under the pre-contract prior to any termination, then this is usually evidence to prove that the parties intended to be bound by the terms of the pre-contract. In an attempt to release themselves from the obligations under a pre-contract, parties have attempted to allege that the validity of a pre-contract was conditional upon a player successfully completing a medical or obtaining a work permit however the DRC has rejected all such arguments on the basis that Article 18(4) of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players 2012 prevents the validity of a contract between a player and a club being “subject to a successful medical examination and/or the grant of a work permit.”

There is nothing against a player signing a pre-contract with another club from the same league, as long as it is within 6 months of the players contract ending.
Did you Google that. Or are you a sports lawyer?
 

BillyWhizz

SC Supporter
Nov 16, 2006
1,179
888
TottenhamMattSpur is correct, clubs within the same country cannot pre-sign players during the last 6 months of their contract but overseas teams can. We would have to wait until the end of May to sign Reid on a free.
 

Roscilous

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2004
630
624
TottenhamMattSpur is correct, clubs within the same country cannot pre-sign players during the last 6 months of their contract but overseas teams can. We would have to wait until the end of May to sign Reid on a free.

Think you will find that Premier League rule U8 allows just that. Man Utd did the same with Chris Smalling from Fulham.
 
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