Tete to Celtic transfer faces Shakhtar fee fight as Donetsk make FIFA demand to avoid 'catastrophe'

The Ukrainian champions are desperate to avoid a repeat of Manor Soloman's free switch to Tottenham this summer.

Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergei Palkin has demanded FIFA put in place a "solidarity fund" for Ukrainian clubs - which could see Celtic forced to pay a transfer fee in any potential move for Tete.

The in-demand Brazilian is rumoured to be a target for Brendan Rodgers with the manager thought to be after a reunion with the winger he signed for Leicester City on loan last term. Tete is set to become a free agent after leaving the Ukrainian champions with FIFA's Annex 7 rule. Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, foreign players or coaches at Russian and Ukrainian clubs are allowed to suspend their contracts until June 2024.

The 23-year-old is set to follow the path laid by Manor Soloman during his move from Donetsk to Tottenham this summer. Solomon’s deal at Shakhtar was due to expire on December 31, 2023, meaning he was able to suspend his contract at beyond the end of his deal and move as a free agent.

Tete is in the same boat with his deal set to run out at the end of the calendar year. And an irked Palkin has demand clubs pay for the players they are snapping up as Shakhtar prepare to take a legal challenge to FIFA through the European Commission - claiming they have missed out on £68million in incoming transfer fees.

Tete is at the centre of the claim after signing for Lyon under the controversial rule last season before being loaned to Rodgers' Leicester. It is claimed that the Ligue 1 side received £1million in compensation from the Premier League side for the deal - but none of it was paid to Shakhtar.

With the case against Lyon set to be heard by the FIFA Football Tribunal, Palkin put transfer suitors on high alert stating: “First of all, at this moment, we want to set up some kind of solidarity fund for Ukrainian clubs, because not just our club suffers from this Annex 7. We want to set up the fund to support Ukrainian football, otherwise we will have big difficulties. The situation is quite catastrophic.

"All sources of income that we have before, and now we just have two sources - to sell players and to receive some kind of bonuses from UEFA. When FIFA issued this Annex 7, they just cancelled one of the (financial) sources that we have. They always say that we are one football family, but as I understand, Ukraine is out of this football family.”

Palkin also revealed that he would hold crunch talks with Tottenham in a bid to land a transfer fee - which could see the likes of Celtic face a similar pursuit if they snap up Tete. Speaking to Ukrainian outlet Standard Sport, he added: "We are sure Tottenham executives understand that Shakhtar invested significant money in the Solomon transfer, investment that Ukrainian clubs in our difficult position, simply cannot afford to lose.

“We hope we will have a meeting with Tottenham representatives on the eve of our friendly match and in good faith we will find a solution to the Manor Solomon issue. The solution should satisfy both sides. We are not trying to receive some kind of profit. We need just to cover everything that we lost, and that’s it."