Fulham manager Scott Parker has labelled Harvey Elliott’s tribunal fee ‘madness’.
The Professional Football Compensation Committee ordered Liverpool to pay an initial £1.2 million for the winger after he joined the club in summer 2019.
Anfield chiefs could pay up to £4.3m for Elliott with the remaining £2.6m dependent on first-team appearances during the course of his senior career.
Liverpool welcomed Thursday’s outcome on the 17-year-old, who is currently enjoying a season-long loan with Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers.
However the ruling has been met with frustration by his former club, where he became their youngest-ever player at the age of 15 years and 174 days.
“This is a player who had been developed at this football club for a long, long time,” said Parker.
“I think he was our youngest ever player. We gave him his debut.
“You don’t want to go and spend £20-30m on players. That’s why the academy, for us, is so important, because you want to develop these players.
“We had developed that player for a big club to take him, and I understand that’s sometimes how it works.
“But certainly, I don’t know the exact numbers, but the numbers that have been suggested – I’d much rather [have] the player.
“£4m for a player we have developed, given his Premier League debut at such a tender age, he is one player that we thought the world of, and helped him in that process.
“To then leave like he did… and go to a tribunal where you get £4m, or up to £4m like has been suggested. It’s certainly from my position, it’s madness really.”