Argentine football club Vélez Sarsfield announced on Tuesday that United States investor Foster Gillett failed to pay star player Valentín Gómez’s contract release clause. This comes as another blow to President Javier Milei’s dreams of implementing the private sports corporation (SAD for its Spanish initials) model in Argentine football after he had praised Gillett’s deal with Estudiantes de La Plata. 

The 21-year-old Gómez is one of the best and most promising young defenders in Argentine football. After winning the 2024 Liga Profesional title with Vélez, it was widely reported that he was looking to move on in his career.

According to a statement released by the club, Gillett entered negotiations after a potential move to Brazilian club Cruzeiro fell through due to terms of payment differences.

“After the transfer failed, the player told the board of directors that he did not wish to remain at the club, and was looking for options to move during the active transfer window,” read the statement. It adds that Gómez later communicated he had found an investor who would pay US$8.5 million along with a further 10% stake in any future transfer for the club, to which Vélez agreed. The player was also granted permission to train at Italian club Udinese, where he was expected to play if the deal went through.

After several established deadlines expired, and despite negotiations being directly conducted with the Gillett Group, the club decided to pull the plug on the deal. 

In the statement, Vélez highlighted that no document or paper was signed with the Gillett Group, and that payment was to come from an account registered to Gómez. Per FIFA regulations, clubs and players are banned from doing deals with third parties that involve them making direct payments for player transfers.

“Considering the player wanted to be registered as a free agent in Italy, the deadline for which was at 11:59 p.m. on February 23, the club ended negotiations,” the statement said. “It was therefore communicated to the player that he was to return to training at the club.”

The problem with Gómez mirrors what happened with River Plate midfielder Rodrigo Villagra, who was also reported to be waiting for Gillett to pay his contract release clause, but his deal also fell through.

Who is Foster Gillett?

Foster Gillett is a U.S. businessman, and son of former Liverpool FC owner George Gillett. His involvement in Argentine football started in December when the Estudiantes de La Plata board confirmed an investment deal with him by unanimous decision.

Although the deal’s terms have been jealously guarded by the club, president Juan Sebastián Verón has claimed it will kick off a US$150 million investment plan running for 30 years. He has also said there will be a later evaluation to see if the team can manage to sell players and possibly recover investments made to develop them.

The deal has already got Estudiantes in hot water once, with Boca Juniors reporting in January that the contract release clause fee on midfielder Cristian Medina (now playing for Estudiantes) was paid directly by Gillett.

Verón has been criticized for lack of clarity as to how the investment will be recouped. Many also see the partnership as a move towards making Estudiantes a private sporting corporation, the club model President Javier Milei has been seeking to replace Argentina’s fan-owned associations with.

Since then, Gillett has been linked with other moves in Argentine football, such as those of Gómez and Villagra, with the accusation of delays in payment.