By BBC (Sports) | Created at 2025-01-06 17:12:27 | Updated at 2025-01-08 00:59:19
1 day ago
Cymru Premier champions The New Saints claim they have yet to receive a transfer fee from Saudi Pro League club Al-Orobah for striker Brad Young and have lodged a complaint with world governing body Fifa.
Young, top scorer in the Welsh top flight last season, left Saints for Saudi Arabia in September 2024 for a fee of £190,000.
Saints chairman Mike Harris said they had not received any money and branded the Saudi club "an absolute disgrace".
"We're due our transfer fee - not a penny has come," Harris told BBC Radio Wales' Call Rob programme.
"Our transfer fee hasn't been paid. We've reported it to Fifa. One [payment] was due immediately in September - we gave them 16 days' grace - and the other was due [last week], which was the second part.
"We can't even get hold of the club so I'd be saying to any club thinking of selling a good prospect to Saudi Arabia to not do the deal unless the cash is in your bank before the player goes.
"No other club should be taken in by the promises of riches that don't turn up."
A Saints spokesperson says the case is due to go to the Fifa Players' Status Chamber for a formal decision on 14 January.
BBC Sport Wales has contacted Al-Orobah and the Saudi Pro League for a comment on Harris' claims.
Clubs in the Saudi Pro League have invested heavily in attracting big names such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar over recent years.
In December, Fifa confirmed Saudi Arabia would host the 2034 men's World Cup, a decision which Harris has criticised.
Solihull-born Young joined Saints in September 2023 after leaving Aston Villa, and went on to score 22 goals for the Welsh champions, winning the Cymru Premier's player of the season award.
Young scored twice on his European debut as part of the run that saw Craig Harrison's side eventually secure a historic place in the Europa Conference League group stage.
But the 21-year-old left Saints before the club's Conference League campaign, much to Harris' frustration.
"They came in on the last day before the transfer window closed and unsettled our player, promising the world," Harris added.
"We're not a selling club - we did not want to sell him. The money they were offering him was life-changing.
"This guy from Saudi Arabia was all 'we are this, we are this' and that they've got loads of dosh. I didn't want the dosh - I wanted the player to play in Europe.
"We missed the deadline, played in Europe without a striker. We couldn't get another player in. We represented Wales in Europe and the difference was we didn't quite score enough goals.
"If we'd had a player of his calibre I'd have said we would have had a better chance."
