Franck Kessie And Andreas Christensen Release Clauses Set At €500m After Signing For Barca

Barcelona signed Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen on free transfers this week.

Despite joining for free, midfielder Kessie, 25, and defender Christensen, 26, will likely command significant transfer fees if they are to leave Barca before their contracts expire.

Both players have signed four-year contracts after their previous deals expired at AC Milan and Chelsea respectively.

According to BBC Sport, those new Barcelona contracts each include €500m release clauses.

Franck Kessie pictured applauding AC Milan fans after playing his final game for the club in May 2022

IMAGO/Sportimage/Jonathan Moscrop

Release Clauses In Spanish Soccer

Almost every professional soccer player in Spain has a release clause in their contract.

They are designed to protect player welfare and also to stop players going to court to try to get out of their contracts.

A release figure is set when the contract is signed, meaning the contract can then be bought out for that amount at any point.

Smaller clubs will generally include realistic figures in their players' release clauses - to allow them to move on should a top team want to sign them.

But the biggest clubs - like Real Madrid and Barca - generally look to protect themselves from inflation by setting release clauses sky high.

The most high-profile transfer involving a player's release clause being activated is Neymar's 2017 move from Barca to Paris Saint-Germain.

Barca thought that by setting Neymar's release clause at €222m they had made him too expensive to be poached.

But PSG shocked Barca and the world of soccer by stumping up that amount to smash the global transfer record.