The Wellington Phoenix football club is line for a major financial windfall if German super club Bayern Munich sign midfielder Sapreet Singh.
Bayern is on the verge of signing the 20 year old Singh on the back of strong performances in the A League and his efforts at the recent under 20 world cup in Poland for New Zealand.
The Phoenix general manager David Dome expects a formal offer within the next day or two and said the German's club interest in Singh was an endorsement of the A-League.
"It does really show that the pathway is clear and does exist and that players can go from the A-League onto much bigger things."
Singh still has a year to run on his contract with the Phoenix but Dome is unsure just how much any transfer fee would be worth.
Sarpreet Singh in action for the New Zealand under-20 side at the World Cup. Photo: Photosport
"Don't know yet. The terms will come through in due course. It's really about what (Bayern Munich) value the player at, based on previous player sales and player purchases at the same level.
There are normally add-ons for appearances in this team and appearances in that team and potentially any on sale value so when or if we receive the offer from Bayern Munich we will have a look at it and see if matches what we value the player at."
Dome doesn't see any haggling over a transfer fee standing in the way of Singh moving to Germany.
"It takes into account the money we have invested in the player, the value of his contract and plus what we think he is worth in the European leagues so hopefully we are not too far apart. We certainly don't want to stand in Sapreet's way onto a much bigger club and developing his football further but we just want to make sure we get fair value for a player we have invested a lot in to get to where he is at."
Assuming the deal goes ahead the club then has to decide where it puts the windfall - does it use it as a war chest to chase new players given there have been numerous departures from the Phoenix post season leaving new coach Ufuk Talay with plenty of holes to fill.
David Dome Photo: Photosport
"We haven't had that discussion internally yet as to how much of the transfer fee gets put back into the player budget for this year," he said.
The club owners Welnix could also be looking for some pay back.
"You also have to remember too that over the years the owners (Welnix) have put in a significant amount of money ...but any transfer fee won't equate to the money that has been put into the Academy to date and the five to six years we have been running it.
"But it is proof that the concept works and can take players to the very top," said Dome.
