Tottenham have been warned they could be sued if they attempt to sign Manor Solomon on a free transfer by Shakhtar Donetsk’s chief executive Sergei Palkin.
Israel winger Solomon spent last season on loan at Fulham after suspending his contract with Ukrainian club Shakhtar via Annex 7 of FIFA’s Regulations on Status and Transfer Players. This gives foreign nationals at Ukrainian clubs the ability to halt their contracts and move elsewhere due to the War in Ukraine.
Solomon scored in five straight games in February and the beginning of March, and Fulham and desperate to keep him at Craven Cottage next season. However, they face stiff competition from other clubs hunting his signature — and one of those is Spurs.
Shakhtar have been left frustrated by an amendment to the ruling, whereby players can now independently suspend their contracts without agreement from their current employers. That leaves the Ukrainian club effectively powerless to prevent Solomon from choosing from a host of interested clubs in Europe’s major leagues.
FIFA’s decision has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, yet Shakhtar have now appealed to the European Commission and will pursue the case at the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
Speaking to ESPN, Palkin said: “I contacted Solomon and his agent and invited him back to our club. I said: ‘you can play all the games in Champions League, you will be in the starting eleven’ but he doesn’t want to move and I believe he will stay in England.
“Where he will go? I don’t know. In any case, if you go to Tottenham, we will deal with Tottenham in court in this case. Everything comes to a simple situation: it sounds like unjust enrichment. Can you imagine, we pay big money for this player and finally Tottenham receives him for free? It is not fair in respect of our club. We will definitely go to court and we will fight for ourselves.”
He added: “I would like to send a message to those clubs who are trying to sign our players without paying a transfer fee: Shakhtar will file claims for unjust enrichment against players or clubs who have enriched themselves and benefitted by obtaining a financial advantage.”
