Everton Transfer Results in Large Fee for Second Tier Irish Club

Former Crystal Palace defender Jake O’Brien has recently signed for Everton, bringing financial benefits to a League of Ireland club.

Jake O’Brien, a 23-year-old centre-back, rose through the youth system at Cork City and played professional football at Turners Cross for three years. 

Everton’s deal boosted City’s total income from O’Brien to nearly half a million. As part of the agreement with Palace, a 5% sell-on clause was included. This led to Cork gaining a 5% share of the €1.2m that Lyon paid to the South London club last year, which amounted to €60,000.

Everton paid €24million for O’Brien, so Cork City’s cut will work out at approximately €350,000.

The 6’6” centre-back thrived for Lyon last season. His promotion to the first team coincided with a resurgence that peaked with a French Cup final appearance and European qualification.

His rise and breakthrough into the Ireland team for the June friendlies sparked a flurry of interest, with suitors from Europe’s top leagues including him on their shortlist.

Lyon set a €24 million price for one of their most valuable assets, leading Wolves to hesitate about making a deal. Everton attempted to acquire O’Brien during the January transfer window but were unsuccessful. The Toffees remained interested once Lyon had to take into account offers for O’Brien due to financial fair play regulations.

Cork City is widely considered one of the most biggest clubs in Ireland, known for its ability to nurture top talent, as showcased once again by O’Brien. In the past, the club has successfully developed players like Alan Browne of Preston and Chiedozie Ogbene of Luton. However, unlike O’Brien, Cork did not benefit financially from the successes of these players.

Site Opinion

Sell-on fees have become increasingly common in recent transfer windows. Just last month, English non-league side Maidenhead benefitted greatly from Max Kilman’s transfer to West Ham, receiving in the range of £4 million.

I’m happy to see Irish clubs finally benefiting financially from nurturing homegrown talent. Too often, players move across the Irish Sea for very little money, so it’s refreshing to see that Cork received a nice paycheck this week for helping developing O’Brien.