The agency that represents the Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been ordered to pay almost £4.5 million in compensation to one of its former players by a Dutch court.
Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), which was founded in 2000 by Kees Vos and Alex Kroes, also represents the United striker Rasmus Hojlund and the Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo. Pep Guardiola, whose brother, Pere, is an SEG shareholder, is also a client of the high-profile agency, along with the former Arsenal and United striker Robin van Persie.
The landmark verdict relates to a long-running legal dispute between SEG and the defender Stefan de Vrij over his transfer to Inter Milan in 2018. De Vrij, who has 62 caps for Holland, accused the agency of failing to disclose to him that it would earn €9.5 million (now about £8.1 million) in commission as part of the move and argued that the substantial sum had limited his earning potential in terms of his basic salary, along with potential bonuses such as a signing-on fee.
Prominent free agents often receive such a bonus because their new club will have avoided a transfer fee. De Vrij had left Lazio upon the expiry of his contract and was valued at about €40 million at the time, according to the website Transfermarkt.
SEG claimed it had only assisted Inter in the transfer, but an Amsterdam court ruled in April 2022 that information had been wrongly withheld from De Vrij and awarded him €4.75 million in damages — half the commission earned by the agency. SEG appealed against the verdict but a second act in court has now led to that compensation figure increasing to €5.2 million.
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The verdict is a significant milestone in the changing relationships between players and agents, with many now preferring to trust family members and specialist lawyers to handle their affairs. De Vrij, who has made 232 appearances for Inter and won the Serie A title in 2021, is believed to have regarded the case as an important point of principle for all players.
But it is a costly result for SEG, both in terms of finance and reputation. The agency had already drawn scrutiny in September owing to its business dealings with United, with Ten Hag forced to deny that his agent, Vos, had too great an influence over the club’s transfers after engineering deals for Hojlund and Sofyan Amrabat last summer.
Kroes, who left SEG in 2018, resigned from his role as chief executive of Ajax last week after the club deemed he had “likely engaged in insider trading” before his appointment in August.
Meanwhile, John Murtough has stepped down from his role as United’s football director and will leave this week.
The 53-year-old, who was promoted to the role in 2021, started telling staff of his departure this week and will leave promptly after ten years at Old Trafford.
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It is another development in Ineos’s restructuring at the club as it looks to make big changes behind the scenes to get United back to the top. Murtough’s future has been up in the air ever since Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Ineos chairman, struck a deal to buy 25 per cent of the club in December.
United confirmed the news in a statement on Tuesday afternoon, with Ratcliffe putting on record his thanks for Murtough’s service, while Joel Glazer, the United co-chairman, added: “After 11 years of tireless work for the club, John has mutually agreed with us that now is the right time to step aside and allow the new football leadership structure to be put in place. He will always be welcome back at Manchester United as a friend of the club.”
Dan Ashworth, formerly of Newcastle United, will replace Murtough but that will not happen this week. Ashworth, 53, is on gardening leave having left Newcastle, and negotiations are continuing between the clubs to allow him to start work at Old Trafford as soon as possible.
When he arrives he is expected to take charge of recruitment, which has been an issue for United in recent years, with the club being criticised for their lack of direction. In the forthcoming window they are not expected to have a huge budget to work with because of the need to comply with the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules, but it is understood a centre back and a forward are the priorities.
United have already appointed Omar Berrada, who was previously at Manchester City, as their new chief executive but he cannot officially start work until the summer, when his period of gardening leave ends. They are also working on a deal to prise Jason Wilcox away from Southampton to become their technical director.
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• Ineos cancels Man United staff’s private cars to cut lavish spending
It is understood that, after Murtough’s departure, the present leadership team will take responsibility for the day-to-day management of the club, until the new group is established. Andy O’Boyle, the deputy football director, David Harrison, the director of player negotiations, and Nick Cox, the academy director, will continue to work with Sir Dave Brailsford, who provides board-level oversight.
When Wilcox arrives it is understood that Darren Fletcher, who occupies the role of technical director at present, will be given a new job title. The club are believed to be keen for the former midfielder to stay as part of the new structure.
Part of the job of the new hierarchy, once it is in place, will be to decide whether Erik ten Hag is the right man to continue as manager beyond this season.
Having dropped seven points from winning positions in their past three games, United are unlikely to qualify for the Champions League, which will also have an impact on their summer transfer budget. Their next game is away to Bournemouth on Saturday.
