Relegated Clubs to Sell

With the European football season drawing to a close, the clubs that have been relegated from the top division of their country's leagues will need to sell some top players to balance the books and keep key players happy. Relegation from the top divisions of European football means a lose of a large sum of money requiring the clubs to cut back wages. In England, the difference between playing in the Premier League and the Championship is an estimated 90 million pounds, and a similar sum would be lost for teams relegated in Spain and Italy.

A number of key players for the unfortunate clubs will need to be sold this summer to balance the books which will result in good deals for the buying clubs. English sides West Ham and Blackpool will be sellers, alongside Spanish outfit Almeria who may have to give up their talisman.

Carlton Cole

Financially West Ham would be able to keep the physical striker in the fold for next season because of a clause in his contract that would cut his wages in half. The clause would save the Hammers a great deal of money with Cole being one of the highest paid players at the club but a player of Cole's quality and stature would not except such a drop in wages.

West Ham will do their best to hold on to Cole, but it will not be long before the striker hands in his transfer request to the club. Newcastle are rumored to be interested in obtaining the striker to replace Andy Carrol who joined Liverpool in the January transfer window. Newcastle may be able to strike quite a bargain for the player as West Ham are likely to accept an offer of around half their 15 million estimated value for Cole.

Charlie Adam

The Blackpool talisman and captain has been garnering the interest of many of the top clubs in England and would fetch the Tangerines a pretty transfer fee estimated to be over 40 million pounds. Blackpool will do their best to hold onto the player who is likely to be willing to remain with the club, but when the big clubs come knocking, will the Seasiders turn down an offer that may be too good to refuse?

Blackpool may be loosing out on an estimated 90 million pounds by not playing in the Premier League next season, but with the sale of Charlie Adam they could possibly make up almost half of that amount lost. The large transfer offer that would be required to pry the 25 year old midfielder away from Blackpool would go a very long way to correcting the Seasiders's books after taking such a large hit.

Pablo Piatti

The little known Argentinean winger who plays for recently relegated Spanish side Almeria will be a hot item on this summers transfer list. Of all the players in the world, Piatti is the most comparable to the genius of Lionel Messi. What Piatti lacks in stature is made up in technical skill which has been on display at lowly Almeria who shocked the soccer world when they secured his signature in 2008.

Pablo Piatti's decision to join Almeria rather than one of Europe's bigger clubs from Argentinean side Estudiantes has proved dividends for the youngster who was able to gain invaluable first team appearances that he would not have at a bigger side. Now with Almeria no longer in La Liga, Piatti will once again be in Europe's shop window and many top clubs will come knocking for the winger's services.

An undeniably gifted footballer, Piatti will soon be given the opportunity to apply his trade on Europe's biggest stage where he looks poised to gain further comparisons to his great countryman. Despite Almeria's relegation, Piatti's price will still remain very high and it would likely require an offer of over 30 million pounds to get the Spanish minnows to give up their prized playmaker.

Conclusion

These are just three players from three clubs that may be on the move this summer, but many more teams will be required to relinquish their prized possessions when the financial implications of their relegation set in. Teams that survived the drop this season will be on the look out for bargains that can be scored when their unfortunate opponents are forces to give up top flight quality players.