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What Is A Sell On Clause? (+ 7 Real Examples)

15 Jun, 2025

The role of a football agent is to secure beneficial terms for their clients: good wages, performance-based bonuses, and contracts that give the player flexibility and freedom when it comes to their own career path.

That latter motivation means that when a club, a footballer, and an agent get together to sign a player's contract (a legally binding written agreement outlining their employment terms and conditions), it's common for certain clauses to be inserted that revolve around potential future transfers.

In this article, we're going to be analysing one such clause: the sell-on clause. In some high-profile transfers, the negotiation of this particular fee can be absolutely vital in getting the deal over the line.

Later on, we'll underline that by offering some real-life examples of players who have had a notable sell-on clause inserted into their contracts. But before we launch into that, let's spend some time explaining exactly what a sell on clause is.

Sell On Clause Meaning: What Is A Sell On Clause?

For many clubs in the lower tiers, financial stability depends on being able to develop young players and sell them to bigger, richer clubs for a profit. This process can be a source of frustration; just as a player starts showing signs of real potential, a more powerful rival swoops in, splashes the cash, and pulls them away from the developing club. However, there is a tool that exists to soften the blow: the sell-on clause.

In football, sell-on clauses play a crucial role in securing vital additional cash for the selling club if the player they're losing ends up scaling the heights they're expected to.

This clause is inserted into the contract when a player signs for a new club, and it states that if said player is sold in the future to another club, a specified portion of that future transfer fee will be directed towards the original seller club.

For example, if Charlton Athletic sold a player to Brentford for £10m and inserted a 10% sell-on clause into their contract, they would initially only receive a £10m transfer fee; however, if Manchester United then signed the player from Brentford for £40m, the original club (Charlton) would get a 10% cut of that fee (£4m).

According to US sports writer Simon Evans, "It's become standard practice for clubs selling players to insert a 'sell on' clause into the terms of the deal, ensuring they receive a share of the profit in any subsequent move for that player." Clubs across the world benefit from this contract element, but it's not a given for every single transfer.

Seller clubs basically have to assess whether the buying club has the potential to move the player on again for a significant profit. If you're selling to a club that is deemed a next-step spot, for example clubs that are renowned for developing young stars and selling them on for a massive profit, like Benfica, Genoa, or Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League, it's sensible to include a sell-on clause.

How Important Are Sell-On Clauses To Lower League Clubs?

Sell-on clauses can have a hugely positive impact on lower-league clubs with limited financial power. For a club in the third or fourth tier of the English football pyramid, receiving a few million pounds when a former player moves on to a big destination can be the difference between staying afloat and heading into serious financial peril.

For instance, Jordan Ibe's £15m transfer from Liverpool to Bournemouth in 2016 may not have worked out long-term for the Cherries, but it earned his former club Wycombe Wanderers a real packet at a time when they badly needed this kind of investment.

That being said, sell-on clauses can't provide immediate relief for the less wealthy of the two clubs involved. The fee is usually paid in instalments, with payments arriving "based on a structure agreed between the selling and buying clubs," according to The Athletic.

Nancy Froston writes that "Some clubs who want the entire sell-on fee up front negotiate for that to happen, usually at a reduced percentage of the overall fee," but it's more common to see fees spread out in instalments over several years.

7 Real Examples Of A Sell-On Clause Being Used In Football

Below are just a few notable examples of high-profile recent transfers that have included a sell-on fee.

John Stones

John Stones has been one of the many success stories of the Guardiola era at Manchester City. As a young defender at Everton, he was highly rated, and at Manchester City the England international has proven to be well worth the £47.5m paid for him in 2016.

But City weren't the only ones to benefit from the move; the signing also saw his previous club Barnsley receive a hugely impactful £7.1m due to their 15 per cent sell-on clause.

Ollie Watkins

More recently, Exeter City benefited massively from the sale of their former academy graduate Ollie Watkins, from Brentford to Aston Villa. According to The Athletic, "the £4 million sell-on fee they received from Watkins’ move was twice the sum they landed for his transfer to Brentford three years earlier and represented roughly the same as the club’s entire turnover in 2018-19 (£4,079,870)."

Jhon Duran

MLS franchise Chicago Fire profited from Aston Villa's recent sale of Colombian international Jhon Duran to Al Nassr for roughly $80 million. His former club in the States reportedly had a significant sell-on clause penned, which means they're set to receive over $8 million from the transfer, having originally sold him for around $22 million.

Cesc Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas' 2014 return to the Premier League was controversial, in that Arsenal fans weren't happy he'd moved to rival London club Chelsea. One thing that may have softened the blow for some was that a sell-on clause dating from Fabregas' original move to Barcelona allowed the Gunners to pocket around £5m of the £30m transfer to the Blues.

Raheem Sterling

QPR have developed a number of high-quality players in recent years, with Crystal Palace's FA Cup-winning playmaker Eberechi Eze the latest former R's player to be linked with a big-money transfer.

Around a decade ago, it was England winger Raheem Sterling who earned the west London club a big windfall, as the former QPR academy star moved from Liverpool to Manchester City for £44m, leaving QPR banking a huge 25% (around £11m).

David Raya

When Arsenal's Number 1 keeper made his switch to the Emirates permanent last summer, Blackburn Rovers earned a reported £5m from the sale. This is after Raya left the Lancashire club in 2019 to join Brentford, the club that ultimately helped earn him his move to the Premier League title-chasers.

James Trafford

Tipped as a future England goalkeeper, James Trafford has made some impressive performances for Burnley since joining from Manchester City for £19m in 2023. His former club Carlisle United, aware of his potential, had previously included a 15% sell-on clause in his contract when he joined City aged just 12.

It means the lower-league side will receive some crucial cash in the coming years, although according to chief executive Nigel Clibbens "even at big, double-digit millions, it's not going to help us too much" in the short-term as "you get paid your money when the seller gets paid their money."

What Is A Release Clause?

As the financial value of young players continues to grow, it's likely that sell-on clauses will become even more important to clubs across the world. The complex nature of transfers in the modern world of football has also led to other types of contract clauses becoming more common.

A release clause is another popular clause that states that in future deals, the buying club is automatically required to accept an initial offer for a player if a buyer makes an offer that reaches a pre-agreed threshold.

Release clauses determine this minimum amount and ensure that if it is met, the player will be allowed to enter transfer negotiations with the future buying club, if they want to. It's worth noting that there's no obligation to buy, but if a release clause is in place, a seller club cannot stand in the way of contract negotiations.

What Is A Buyout Clause In Football?

While it's up to clubs to trigger the sell-on clause or release clause in a player's contract, buyout clauses are triggered by the player themselves. Essentially, these clauses allow pros to buy themselves out of their own contract if they are desperate for a move. This is typically done by the buying club transferring the agreed fee to the player, and the player then sending this sum of money to their current club to facilitate the move.

Buyout clauses are super common in Spanish football contracts. This is to help players become committed and tied down to clubs; by slapping a huge buyout clause on a player, potential seller clubs can dissuade buyer clubs from making a move.

To this end, the buyout fee will usually be set at an extremely high figure far above the transfer market value of the player. This shows the club has no intention of selling their player, and it can also increase loyalty from the player's point of view.

A number of high-profile players in the modern game are reported to have buyout clauses inserted into their current contracts, including Manchester City star Erling Haaland, Barcelona midfielder Pedri, and Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jnr.

If you'd like to find out more about how they work, check out our in-depth guide to the buyout clause in football.