Quote: nottinghamtiger "No club has been able to sign a contracted player without paying a fee, which is what Sale were trying to do, unless this has been agreed by both clubs. This is still the case.
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To me it looks like Sale's intention was never to sign the player without paying a fee, basically it's cost them an extra £100k for the legal fees over and above the £200k they originally offered Cas. So my take on it is if a player wants to go, and you've been offered a sensible figure for him, then it's easier all round to take the offer. Maybe not the most principled stance, but then settling for the original offer plus legal fees isn't all that principled either!