The Denny Solomona transfer saga between Castleford Tigers and Sale Sharks has finally reached its conclusion.
Castleford will receive over £200,000 following the record-breaking winger’s cross-code move to Sale.
Solomona had signed a contract extension with Castleford in 2015 which would see him stay in West Yorkshire until 2018.
However, after breaking the Super League try record in 2016, the Tigers wanted to tie Solomona down to a longer contract in line with his achievement.
In a statement released today, the club added: “The club’s intention all along was to keep Solomona and on 12 August 2016, Castleford Tigers made it clear through a press statement that it had no intention to sell Solomona despite press speculation.”
Solomona went on to sign for Sale, sparking fury within the Tigers club who sought advice from their lawyers and the case went to the High Court.
Sale offered compensation to the Tigers, which has now been accepted.
Castleford CEO Steve Gill said: “This has been a difficult few months for the club,”
“It would have been very easy to walk away and put all of this down to experience but Castleford Tigers is not a selling club anymore.
“We have demonstrated over the last three years that the club is ambitious.
“We want to maintain our existing squad and continue to improve.
“The approach from Sale was not welcome.
“We made our position clear but we have no control over the fact that Solomona was going to walk out on his contract.
“We believe lessons have now been learnt and hope if this was to happen again rugby union clubs would respect the fact that the league players who are under contract cannot be enticed away without fear of financial penalties.”