Prospective French signing Cheick Kourouma will be back home in France this weekend to try to resolve the administrative issues preventing him from completing his move to the Blues. The switch could be scuppered all together with the loose ends needing to be tied up before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

The 20-year-old can’t sign for Town until the Blues have agreements from all his former clubs, including those he played for when a schoolboy, that they won’t chase compensation technically due to them under FIFA rules.

Paris-born Kourouma spent time with French sides CO Vincennes, ASBR Football, Dijon FCO and US Torcy and Sochaux, who he joined at 15, before he moved on to Spanish club Real Zaragoza and then on to Genoa, who he left last season.

Kourouma is currently sidelined with a minor knee injury and manager Paul Jewell says he has a great deal of sympathy for him: “He’s still injured. He’s going back to France to try and get his [situation sorted].

“It’s been really difficult for the kid really because the previous clubs he’s been at need to write something that says that they won’t want compensation. The kid’s not getting paid, so he needs to sort something out for his own sake.

“So, he’s going back to France this weekend to try and get that sorted. I feel a bit sorry for him. He’s just a young player desperate to do well here. Hopefully he can get it sorted. If it’s not sorted by August 31st, we can’t do it.”

The Town boss says he’s still keen to add him to his squad — the youngster agreed personal terms some months ago — but says the Blues have to be wary not to create a situation where one of the clubs can come chasing money in the future if Kourouma proves to be a success: “This is the red tape, the bureaucracy of FIFA — he needs written permission from his Scouts team to say that they won’t be after any compensation.

“If we’re not careful we could sign him and we could be liable for €100,000 compensation, and we don’t want to do that.”

Photo: Action Images

irishtim added 07:12 - Aug 24 Think he is being thrown to the sharks. Hopefully someone from the club has gone to assist him.
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Dissboyitfc added 07:22 - Aug 24 If we are signing him for nothing and he proves a success, 100,000 euros is a bargain surely? COYB
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JoshTheLad added 07:54 - Aug 24 Sounds like "Carry on Kourouma!" if you ask me.
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abingdon_blue added 08:37 - Aug 24 Dissboy - I think they would be entitled to the compensation as soon as he signs, regardless if he is a success here or not.
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JimmyJazz added 08:46 - Aug 24 Entitled maybe, but probably won't chase unless he's a success. Otherwise why say you won't be asking for compensation in the future, it sounds like it increases the more successful he is
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JimmyJazz added 08:48 - Aug 24 So if he was at Genoa last season, didn't he have to go through all this before when he signed for Genoa, or did they not bother tying up the loose ends?
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Jimmys_Law added 09:12 - Aug 24 Surely, at worst we could still sign him up in January if we can't get all the paperwork sorted before the transfer deadline, assuming he doesn't join another club.
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Toepunt added 09:14 - Aug 24 I thought that a player without a club could be signed outside of the transfer window? Am I imagining things?
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NW10_Tractor added 09:35 - Aug 24 These other teams are playing the fool and keeping quiet and unless these loose ends are not tied up - out they'll come looking for easy money and like it was mentioned on here, the compensation is probably based on appearances, promotion, goals and probably the amount of times he gets a new trim (anything to get money nowadays.)
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TotalBlue added 09:41 - Aug 24 Toe punt thats what I thought unless there is an age rule on that but dont think so. Also Phil love the new site but there seems to be a slight error in firefox if you click the login to post link. I am at work at the moment but will have a proper look over the weekend and give you more info. Looked for a way to send you a message but couldn't find one...
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buryblue77 added 10:15 - Aug 24 I'm not usually negative but I can't help thinking that transfers at Ipswich at the moment are so often very complicated or we find ourselves in long drawn out sagas, such as St Ledger, Pearce, Ward, Kuszsack, Davies and now the 'red tape' surrounding Kourouma. I am more than happy with the signings we have made, just need a couple more.
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Blue041273 added 10:15 - Aug 24 Sounds like the boy needs an agent. This is exactly what those bloodsuckers are for.
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Michael11 added 10:16 - Aug 24 What a ridiculous rule this is, when you sign for someone the clubs should agree a fee and thats it, not having 3 clubs partly owning you it's insane, sort it out fifa!
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BillBlue added 10:19 - Aug 24 I hate Agents, all Agents, but hasn't this lad got one because, surely, that guy should be earning his keep and sorting this out for him and, as somebody else said, I do hope Town are being supportive because this must be soul destroying for the kid particularly because he is in a foreign country. COYB
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JimmyJazz added 10:26 - Aug 24 This rule is surely a result of teams like Arsenal and Man Utd signing 15 year old school kids from abroad and the local teams that player developed at getting nothing. So in that respect I think this is a good rule. Problem seems to be that Chiek appears to have been at loads of clubs. BTW most of those 15 year old kids end up getting discarded by the time they are 20.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 10:32 - Aug 24 I don't like to be negative, but methinks this ain't going to happen. I feel really sorry for this guy. He's got zero chance of sorting this bureaucratic nightmare out on his own. As stated above, I hope he's getting all the support possible from the club. This works two ways: If we want players with the right attitude and a certain loyalty to the cause, then the executive management has to also back them up in situations like this. I trust we are doing just that.

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ChrisMakin2012 added 11:14 - Aug 24 He isn't very good anyway so why are we even bothering with him?
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Jimmys_Law added 11:31 - Aug 24 You haven't seen enough of him to determine whether he is good enough yet or not. The management at the club seem to think differently and I would trust in their judgement more than one fans'.
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yun added 11:58 - Aug 24 Phil - think TotalBlue is right - login link doesn't work in Firefox (12.0). Am posting using Chrome.
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Talbs77 added 12:15 - Aug 24 Why do I feel like I could write a book about this transfer!! Lets just get a decision so the lad knows were he stands either way. Feel sorry for the boy though as obviously desperate to sign but I think someone made the point that wouldnt Genoa have had to look into all this when he signed for them last season?
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Mark added 12:15 - Aug 24 It doesn't make sense that it has dragged on this long, as the conversations with his previous clubs would be straightly straightforward you'd think. What do the players' union say about the situation? It seems their member will effectively be unemployable and have to leave the game of football because of this (if other clubs take the same stance as Ipswich).
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Jimmys_Law added 12:20 - Aug 24 With the login link issue, which I've encountered occasionally on my phone, I've managed to login ok using the link at the top right hand side of the page, rather than the link at the bottom of the page.
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Mungo added 12:20 - Aug 24 Its not right that the poor lad is being prevented from carrying on with his career by these clubs. Hopefully he will be put off moving again and stay at Town for a while! Did he impress in pre-season?
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JewellintheTown added 12:29 - Aug 24 I'll get my baseball bat and passport ready. I'll sort it for him.
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Fatboy added 14:08 - Aug 24 His training clubs are each entitled to £10K (or is it €10K?) for each year he spent with them if he signs a professional contract before he's 23. So what's in it for them to sign an agreement that they won't ask for the compensation? He's only 20 now, so if he doesn't sign for Ipswich the chances are he will sign elsewhere sometime in the next couple of years and they will still be entitled to the compensation. The only way I can see this being resolved is if either Ipswich cough up or they get each club to agree a reduced settlement (on the basis that if they don't then they might end up with nothing if the lad never gets a professional contract).

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