200 K fee agreed with the Arabs and wee Billy at Tannadice this morning fer a medical. How much did we feckin sell him fer ? 

Shocked, Disappointed, Cheesed off. What a start to the season ?

...and this once again raises the issue of players' value. We sell him to Wigan for ~£150k on tghe back of a couple of seasons in which he scores >20 goals in each and, following a handful of games and no goals (I think) in 6 months at Wigan, his value has apparently gone UP by 1/3rd! While I understand that value is based on many factors, including length of contract remaining etc, I can't help thinking that ICT are seen as a soft touch in the transfer market.

Not really.

 

Wigan could have waited six months and got him for free. Dundee Utd are having to compensate Wigan for releasing him from his contract., which has about 21 months to run.

If £150k buys out 6 months, then Utd should be paying over 500k to buy out 12 months!

I don't think that is right.  Utd do not need to compensate Wigan because Wigan are happy to let him go.  It is Wigan who need to compensate Mckay for ending his contract 17 months early.  If McKay is going to be paid £1500 a week less at Utd then Mckay will be wanting roughly £100,000 in lost earnings.

From Wigan's perspective, even if they give that to Mckay, selling him means that they release £2,500 a week and get £200k into the coffers.  For a a player who cost them £150k and has not scored a competitive goal for them in 7 months, that's not a bad bit of business.

 

No.

Wigan were only happy to let him go once a certain value was reached - remember that Utd had a couple of previous bids rejected.

Clearly the player doesn't have to move if the wage is less, and at that point Wigan may well have to offer something to make up for the drop in earnings.

And if they give £100k to Mckay, they won't be getting £200k into their coffers.

It goes without saying that Wigan want to get as much as they can for Billy and that Billy doesn't have to go unless he is willing to go - but that is irrelevant to the argument here. 

As things stand with Billy as a Wigan player they are committed to paying Billy, £4K a week for a further 17 months.  Utd are offering him £2.5K a week.  If Wigan agree to compensate for Billy's loss of earnings in full then Wigan could continue to pay Billy the difference of £1.5K a week for the next 17 months.  That is quite separate from the fee they receive from Utd.  They still get £200K into the bank but would be paying Billy £2.5K per week less than they are now. Over the course of the rest of Billy's contract that is a reduction in wages to Billy of £170K. By selling Mckay to Utd for £200K and fully compensating the player for loss of earnings, Wigan get £200K into the coffers and reduce their wage bill by £170K compared to where they would be if Billy simply dug his heels in and said he was staying.  Given that he seems to have dropped out of their plans altogether, that seems like a no-brainer on behalf of Wigan.  Interestingly, the fact that they did not accept a lower offer previously would suggest considerably more astuteness in the transfer market than we are displaying.

It is also interesting to note that if the suggested deal regarding Christie goes ahead, the money received would allow us to buy back Billy and pay him on the same basis as Utd have offered.  However, one year down the line we would have no Christie and two years down the line Billy's contract would be up and there would be no money left!

If they commit to pay Billy £100k, they would have to set that aside or account for it, or however you wish to phrase it. So either the whole £200k is not available to them, as they have to make a provision of £100k, or some other budget takes the hit.

Assuming the £1.5K compensation to Billy is made on a weekly on monthly basis or on what ever basis they are paying him £4K a week now, they will be shelling out £2.5K less per week in the future than they are now.  They do not need to budget for the £1.5K a week because these are not extra costs.  Quite the contrary, they release the £2.5K a week that Billy's new club will be paying him.

.....sounds like he's now going to United on loan in stead now. Unconfirmed as yet.

Dundee United have confirmed hes signed on loan.

I'm sure we'd all like to wish him all the best on his return to Scottish football. Break a leg, Billy.