Footballer's contracts are complex legal documents which have become super streamlined and that is the reason sometime it only takes couple of hours on the transfer deadline day for player to transfer from one club to another. Unless ofcourse fax mechine stops working *wink De Gea to madrid. We breakdown a typical Premier League footballar's contract and what clauses are in it.

The Contract: 

Premier League stakeholders (English FA and clubs involved) have developed an standard contract which is used by all clubs in premier league with some minor clauses and changes. It has taken around a decade for this standard contract to be developed and although player and club can agree on some mutually agreed clauses, when/if dispute arises between club and player premier league standard terms and conditions will apply and will take precedence over club/player agreement.

The Structure: 

A typical player/club contract starts with first page of basic details about the player and club. official name, date of birth, place of birth, passport number, National insurance number etc. After the first page there are around 14 pages of typical premier league standard terms and condition.  Which is then followed by important schedules known as Schedule 1 and Schedule 2. 

1. Schedule 1 usually covers disciplinary procedures and penalties impost on player by the club. 
2. Schedule 2 is all about lenth of the contract, basic wage, bonuses, incentives, financial penatlies etc.

Duration of the contract: 

In the contract one of the most important details is how long the contract will be between the player and the club. It can range from 6 month loan deal to 8 year contract (Chelsea playing with rules). A usual clubs offer players contract between 1 year to 5 years depending on the age of the player and talent. 

Basic Salary Agreement:

The most important aspect is the financial details and that include basic salary and how player will be paid. Usually in the UK, salaries are quoted on weekly basis but players are paid on monthly basis because it makes much more sense financially for both clubs accounts and players. The financial agreement comes in agreement over basic salary which will be paid to player's bank account on agreed date every month.

Injury Clauses: It also comes with clauses where injuries/discipline comes into play. A usual premier league contract contains clauses such as in case of injury during training or match player will get full basic salary for the first 18th month of the contract after injury. After that if he has not recovered salary is reduced by 50% for remainder of the contract.

Performance related bonuses: both club and player agree on the performance related bonuses which differ from club to club. For example Manchester United player have champions league qualification clause in their contract which means if they fail to qualify for champions league, next season their salary is reduced by as much 25% 

Image Rights: Most players agree with clubs image right clauses but every now and then comes a player which is bigger then the club itself. They negotiate image rights deals seperately from the contract. Best examples for such cases are Ronaldo's image right deals with Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United. Other players also have special image right deals with their clubs like Neymar, Messi, Mbappe and some other high profile names.

Release Clause: This clause specify how much money other club has to pay the parent club of the player in order for transfer initiation. Regardless of parent club want to sell or not. Once buying club agree to meet release clause, they only have to agree personal terms with the player and transfer can finalise. Release clause agreement is beneficial for both clubs and players.