Dundee United chairman angered by £204,000 Charlie Telfer fee

Charlie Telfer has made six appearances for Dundee United, scoring once

Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson has said the £204,000 in compensation his club must pay Rangers for Charlie Telfer is "ridiculously prohibitive".

The 19-year-old midfielder moved to Tannadice from Ibrox at the beginning of June under freedom of contract.

United had paid £72,000 and recently upped their offer to around £100,000, while Rangers wanted double that sum.

"It highlights the need for parents and young players to choose their clubs very, very carefully," said Thompson.

"This judgement in our opinion will have a serious impact on the freedom of movement of some young players through no fault of their own.

"Today's decision protects clubs even in the event that those clubs are responsible for players' careers being stifled at a critical stage in their development."

Telfer recently won the SPFL young player of the month award. His age allowed Rangers to claim compensation for training and development of the player.

Thompson argues that the fee decided by the Scottish Professional Football League compensation tribunal should have been smaller because Telfer had made only one substitute's appearance for Rangers in a competitive match in League One, but under United's guidance he had broken into the first team of a Scottish Premiership club.

He added of the decision: "It will restrict the opportunities for some of our most promising young players to gain regular first team football and act as a deterrent to any Scottish football club which wishes to take such players on.

Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson had increased his offer to Rangers from £72,000 to £100,000

"Today's judgement now sets a dangerous precedent that means some of our most promising young players will be deprived of the opportunity to secure a contract at a club where they have been offered a genuine first team opportunity and to improve their earnings purely because the compensation has been set at a ridiculously prohibitive level.

"The sum awarded to Rangers is almost seven times the amount offered to the player under the terms of his new contract with the Glasgow club."

Rangers issued a statement saying the award "vindicates the club's decision to take the matter to a compensation tribunal".

The statement added: "Dundee United introduced a late argument stating Rangers should only be awarded compensation for the training and development of Charlie Telfer for two years instead of the 10 years that he was with the club.

"They argued the club in its current form has only existed for two years.

"It is disappointing Dundee United tried to pursue this tiresome, legally incorrect and provocative argument given that it has been repeatedly confirmed by the football authorities in Scotland and beyond that administration and liquidation of the companies that owned the club did not break the continuity of the club's history or its record of honours won."

Rangers removed this latter part of the statement from their website early on Tuesday evening.

Thompson later told BBC Scotland: "We did not use the two years old scenario as quoted."