Crazy transfer clauses which shaped Liverpool players' careers

Anfield stars past and present have seen odd paperwork included in deals

Crazy transfer clauses which shaped Liverpool players' careers

When football clubs sign players they sometimes insert clauses that seem bizarre and that's the case with a couple of Liverpool players past and present, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Stig Inge Bjornebye.

Oxlade-Chamberlain had to make up for lost time after an injury disrupted second season at Anfield, but in many ways the midfielder has been doing that ever since he first came to Merseyside.

The England international was introduced slowly by Jurgen Klopp after his £35million move from Arsenal in August 2017 but ended up enjoying an impressive debut campaign with the Reds, playing 42 matches and scoring five goals including strikes in both his side's Anfield victories over Manchester City in the Premier League and Champions League.

By the penultimate month of the season the Portsmouth-born player had established himself as one of Liverpool's main men but he was cruelly struck down with a serious knee injury which is expected to keep him sidelined for over a year.

He's since returned and established himself as a contender in Klopp's midfield, scoring his sixth goal of the season against West Ham in midweek.

Oxlade-Chamberlain's switch to the Reds has helped revive the now 26-year-old's career but a big part of his frustrations with the Gunners could have been down to a rather odd clause which Alan Gernon's book The Transfer Market: The Inside Stories highlights.

Gernon writes: “Following Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's move to Arsenal in 2011, Gunners fans became increasingly frustrated with the midfielder's lack of playing time.

“He was predominantly used as a substitute, often around the 71-minute mark.

“After his contract details emerged, it all became clear: Arsenal were obliged to pay Southampton £10,000 every time he played 20 minutes or more.”

The Irish author, whose first book Retired: What Happens to Footballers When the Game's Up won critical acclaim, turned his attention to transfers, one of the most eagerly-read aspects of the sport.

Throughout the book Gernon discovers how the transfer market actually works through the angles of various stakeholders including players and their families, agents, clubs and the media with Jim White of Sky Sports & talkSPORT declaring in the Foreward: “Alan digs a lot deeper than anyone else has attempted to.”

Weird and wonderful clauses aren't just a 21st century phenomenon though and in the past the Reds themselves have imposed specific restrictions on some of their players' off-the-field movements.

Gernon writes: “Football clubs are often terrified of their players suffering injuries during extracurricular activities, and Liverpool were no different when they signed Stig Inge Bjornebye in 1992.

“The defender's father was an Olympic ski jumper for Norway and Stig had inherited a passion for the sport.

“Liverpool were having none of it, however, banning the player from going within 200 yards of a ski slope.”

• The Transfer Market: The Inside Stories is on sale from Pitch Publishing.