Everton and Roberto Martinez in compensation battle

On a week when Everton announced their new manager Ronald Koeman for a princely sum of £5million per year for a three-year term, there still remains the small matter of settling with the former manager Roberto Martinez who was relieved of employment towards the end of a second consecutive underwhelming season.

The Catalonian was in charge at £3.5million per year with three seasons still left in the terms of his contract. It is believed that the club and Martinez are yet to reach an agreement on whether that amount can be negotiated down from the £10.5million still owed to the former manager.

Initially it had appeared the two parties would compromise at a middle ground, but now it appears that there will be an independent hearing in the coming week since Martinez’ legal team are now pushing for the contract to be paid off fully. It is yet unknown if there were any performance terms written into the said contract which would give the Blues some leverage.

However, considering how enamored Club Chairman Bill Kenwright had been with the 42-year-old Spaniard, it is quite likely that the Toffees will have no recourse but to spend £10.5million of new owner Farhad Moshiri’s money paying off the former gaffer instead of being able to invest those funds into a couple of depth players at least.

Martinez was interviewed last week by Anderlecht, but the Belgian club chose to not wait and instead signed FC Nurnberg manager Rene Weiler. Anderlecht finished second in the Jupiler Pro League, and will play in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers towards the end of the summer.