Newcastle have signed goalkeeper Lukas Gornicek for slightly more than the buyout clause in his contract with Braga. The president of the Portuguese club, Antonio Salvador, has revealed the exact fee for this summer transfer.
The buyout figure for the Czech shot-stopper was €30 million (£26.2 million), but Newcastle opted not to trigger that option. Instead, both clubs agreed on a full transfer with a more favourable payment structure for the English side. Consequently, the total fee ended up being €30.57 million (£26.7 million).
Salvador explained:
We had anticipated that Gornicek might stay with us for another year, but his contract included a buyout clause, and a club—Newcastle—came in and ended up paying even more. They paid €30.57 million when the buyout amount was €30 million.
It was a good deal for both the club and the player, who was eager to test himself in the English league.
This means that Newcastle effectively added an extra €570,000 (£498,000) to the fee, allowing them to avoid paying the entire buyout amount in one go.
Gornicek has quickly made an impact in England, having kept two clean sheets in his first six Premier League matches for Newcastle, along with making some crucial saves.
