Stefan De Vrij scored a historic win over his previous representatives in the courtroom. The Sports Entertainment Group, which arranged his move to Inter in 2018, was found guilty of an illicit commission by a judge in Amsterdam, Corriere della Sera informs.
The defender will get €4.7M back from his former agents. He had asked for €22M as he believed they had struck an agreement with the club under the table to get more money and the future percentage of his sale without informing him.
De Vrij has chosen Mino Raiola afterward. Before the ruling, SEG director Kees Vos stated: “It is a vexatious litigation. He is earning five times what he was making before. Somebody told him that we should not have made a profit on his transfer, and he believed them” The center-back joined the Nerazzurri on Bosman move.
During the hearings, the Dutchman’s lawyers stated that the agency negotiated a side deal with Inter rather than focusing on the player’s interests. They cashed in a €7.5M bonus because they kept his contract below the €50M threshold. His original five-year deal wound up amounting to €37.5M.
His attorney Sebastien Ledure commented: “This kind of victory would have been unimaginable ten years ago. Players were unaware of the circumstances surrounding their transfers. Some were properly circumvented, but they refrained from filing charges. This sentence sets a precedent that might start a new area of transparency. We did not doubt how Inter operated as they assumed De Vrij was in the known during the talks.”
According to Calciomercato, such distraction might have one of the causes for his subpar performances this season. The Nerazzurri will meet Raiola to decide whether to negotiate an extension or dangle him in the transfer market. They have not received sizeable bids so far.