Sporting Planning Legal Action Against Players Terminating Contracts as English Clubs Swoop in

Portuguese side Sporting CP have confirmed in an official statement that they will seek legal action against a number of players who have terminated their contracts at the club, and will hold both the individuals and the clubs signing them responsible.

According to Jan Hagen, a freelance writer on Portuguese football, the club is seeking compensation for damages and losses suffered by the players' terminations - with potential impacts on a number of English clubs.

A significant number of Sporting players terminated their contracts with the club following an attack on the club's training ground by their own fans.

Ruben Ribeiro, Rodrigo Battaglia and 19-year-old starlet Rafael Leao became the seventh, eighth and ninth players to leave the Lisbon side following the incident last month.

They join William Carvalho, Rui Patrício, Bas Dost, Bruno Fernandes, Gelson Martins and Daniel Podence, who had all already terminated their employment with the club.

Newly-promoted Wolves have already agreed to sign Patricio, subject to international clearances, whilst Carvalho has been heavily linked with a move to Everton.

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Martins and Dost are also names linked with moves to the Premier League this summer, especially now given their status as free agents.

Given the threat of legal action though, it now remains to be seen if English clubs will be willing to approach these players and what financial repercussions might effect those that have already agreed deals, such as Wolves. 

With a total of nine players terminating their deals at Sporting, the club has seen around €200m in potential sales walk out the door and could be faced with serious financial repercussions as a result - hence their legal attempts to recoup some of the lost money.

Sporting's business model relies heavily on its impressive youth development setup and selling on players at a profit.

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After losing that significant a number of players, Sporting have released a statement claiming their accounting firm PwC believe there's a 'concrete threat' of bankruptcy for the Lisbon side.

Sporting's own board of directors, however, did release a statement of their own saying they believed their "continuity of operations is assured" and that there's no immediate risk of bankruptcy for the Lisbon club.