For a player with injury problems, they should expect a low-ball. I mean we offered ~22 million including bonuses, which is definitely very low.
We need to separate injury risk from player risk. Injury risk can be mitigated with games played bonuses, however, we should bear nearly all the risk for the player based on his performance at health, after all it is our scouting staff that likes the player.
If I'm Juventus I offer clauses that help mitigate risk (this is one I just thought of)
- 15 million base
- 20 million appearance based (payable based off a minimum number of games over the contract). So assume we use Serie A games @ 38 GP. We will say that it is "reasonable" if he appears in 25 games. So let's assume he signs for 5 years...Schalke will be paid 20 million * (1/(25*5)) for each game he plays in that period. At near 0 interest rates in Europe, you can't really argue much for time value of money. So if he plays 125 games over 5 years, Schalke will earn 20 million. If he is sold before that time, Schalke will get 50% of profit made on the player, up to the 20 million.
Examples:
1)Draxler plays 90 games and is sold after 3 years for 25 million because his performance is bad.
Juventus pays = 15+(20*(90/125))= 15+14.4 = 29.4 million + 50% of (25-29.4)=0...so 29.4 million total.
2) Draxler plays 50 games and is sold after 3 years for 15 million because his performance is bad and he is constantly hurt.
Juventus pays = 15+(20*(50/125))= 15+ 8 = 22 million + 50% of (15-22) = 0, so 22 million in total.
3) Draxler plays = 70 games and is sold after 2 years for 80 million because he is world class.
Juventus pays = 15+ (70/125)) = 15 + 11.2 = 26.2 million plus MINIMUM OF (50% of (80-26.2) = 26.9 OR (35 million)), so 35 million in total.
I think that is fair to all parties. Schalke wants to get paid for its young phenom but Juventus doesn't want to pay 35 million for an injury prone player. I believe if Draxler is healthy, 35 million is fair, which is roughly what United paid for Depay. If he isn't healthy, expecting Juventus to fork out 35 million is crazy. If he doesn't pan out due to ability, that is a different issue, and Juventus should bear that risk.