Why Sheffield Wednesday won’t get anything for Matt Penney’s Ipswich Town move

Penney is expected to finalise a move to the Tractor Boys this week as his contract at his boyhood club comes to an end, but – despite being 23-years-old – the Owls aren’t set to receive any compensation.

Under the rules of the English Football League any club signing a player under the age of 24 is obliged to pay compensation for the training and development of a player – but only if certain requirements are met from the side of his former club.

One of those requirements is that the player’s old club, Wednesday in this case, need to have offered a new contract that is either better than or equal to the contract that is expiring.

With Penney, The Star understands that he was allowed to leave as a free agent when the club decided that he would be moving on, and didn’t offer him a new deal at all as the young defender was made aware that his future would lie elsewhere.

That decision, whilst it may see them miss out on a bit of money, will have no doubt made Penney’s future move easier, with Ipswich being able to sign him as an actual free agent rather than having to pay a fee.

Penney is likely to finalise his move to the Owls’ League One rivals this week.

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