John Textor, the co-owner of Crystal Palace, is being sued for more than £6million by Bruno Lage over the club’s appointment of manager Oliver Glasner. In an remarkable legal case, former Wolves boss Lage has accused Textor of signing a contract stating that he’d him offer the role of head coach with either Palace or French giants Lyon.
Like at Palace, US businessman Textor is the largest shareholder in Lyon. The Telegraph report that he’s contesting the lawsuit.
The alleged contract covered the period between January 1 and April 15, 2024. It’s said to have been signed shortly after Lage became manager of Textor’s Brazilian side, Botafogo, after agreeing a six-month deal in July 2023.
Lage, though, was sacked after less than three months. It was was his first managerial role since being dismissed by Wolves in October 2022. The Portuguese is now in his second spell at Benfica. Lage’s lawsuit centres around Palace’s decision to appoint Glasner in February last year.
The former Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg manager was announced after Roy Hodgson confirmed that he was stepping down in order for Palace to ‘bring forward their plans to appoint a new manager’. Ex-England manager Hodgson had collapsed during a training session in the days prior amid speculation that he was close to losing his job at Palace.
At Lyon, Pierre Sage was named their new head coach last July. Sage was initially given the job on an interim basis earlier in the season following the sacking of Fabio Grosso.
Lage, who was never publicly linked with the Palace job ahead of Glasner’s arrival, was reportedly in the frame to replace Laurent Blanc, who was sacked by Lyon in September 2023 before Grosso’s two-month spell.
The Telegraph claim to have seen documents alleging a ‘retainment agreement’ signed by Textor. The documents allegedly say that any job offer made to Lage would include a minimum two-year fixed-term contract and a combined salary for the manager and his staff of $3.6m (£2.75m) per year net of tax and social-security contributions.
The ‘legally binding’ contract is also alleged to state that Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings would pay Lage that amount by April 29, 2024, if he failed to ensure that one of Palace or Lyon made him an offer during the agreed period.
In his lawsuit, Lage calculates that sum would amount to $7,659,574 (£5.9m), on top of which he’s claiming interest, costs and ‘such further or other relief as the court deems fit’. It’s also claimed that the contract included a clause that would see Lage pay Textor $3.6m (£2.75m) if he took a managerial role not with either Palace or Lyon during the same period.
After losing his job at Botafogo, Lage remained out of work during the alleged ‘restricted period’. The 48-year-old took the Benfica job in September 2024 and led them to the Champions League knockout phase after beating Monaco in the play-off round.
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