Former Republic of Ireland captain Kenny Cunningham says League of Ireland clubs deserve to be properly compensated when English clubs arrive to poach players.
Graham Burke is on the cusp of departing Shamrock Rovers to join Preston North End. The fee is reported to be in the region of €300,000. Burke has almost 18 months left on his current contract with the SSE Airtricity League club.
The Dubliner has recently became the first domestic based player since Joe Gamble in 2007 to represent the Republic of Ireland, he made his debut off the bench against France before netting his first goal on the occasion of his second cap against the USA at the Aviva Stadium.
The former Republic of Ireland skipper hopes Burke's fee should be fair to his club:
“I’ll be disappointed to see Graham go; at the end of the day he’s got his Ireland opportunity of the back of his performances for Shamrock Rovers this season, that shouldn’t be forgotten.
“This old adage of ‘you got to go over to prove yourself at the highest level before you can be considered’ Graham has disproved that theory, I understand if it’s a personal ambition to go back across the water, at the very least the League of Ireland clubs need to be compensated to the right level.”
Cunningham cited Seamus Coleman’s move to Everton in 2009 for the paltry sum of €60,000 as an example of League of Ireland club’s getting a raw deal when it comes to players being offered moves abroad.
“Seamus Coleman’s fee, I don’t know what ‘add ons’ were in there but if they didn’t get more than €60,000 it’s a disgrace really.”
