Exeter City are set to receive a seven-figure fee from Ollie Watkins' £50million transfer from Aston Villa to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal.
Watkins has been the subject of transfer interest throughout the summer window and speculation heightened last weekend as the 30-year-old did not feature in Villa's squad for their Premier League fixture against Brighton.
Unai Emery was keen to keep Watkins at the club, but with the striker pushing for a move to the Riyadh-based side, Villa have accepted a fifth bid worth £50m plus a small amount in add-ons.
With Watkins set to bring the curtain down on a prolific six years at Villa Park, his former club Exeter are set to benefit financially from his switch to Saudi Arabia.
Under FIFA's solidarity mechanism, 5% of a player’s transfer fee will be deducted and redistributed to the clubs that trained and educated them between the ages of 12 and 23.
As stated in Article 21 of FIFA's regulations on the transfer of players, solidarity contributions are due anytime a professional player is transferred against transfer compensation. The mechanism can be triggered as many times as the player is transferred.
The scheme means Exeter will be entitled to between 3.5% to 4% of the transfer fee Al Hilal have paid for Watkins. That equates to a minimum of £1.75m heading to St James Park once the deal has been completed.
Watkins was on the books at Exeter from the age of nine and rose through the ranks before signing a scholarship deal in 2012.
The striker signed his first professional contract with the club in April 2014 following a 30-goal campaign for the Grecians' Under-18 side and he made his competitive debut in the final match of the 2013/14 season.
Watkins went on to make 78 appearances in all competitions for Exeter, scoring 26 goals. During the 2016/17 League Two season, he netted 13 goals in 45 League Two appearances, prompting Brentford to fork out £1.8m for his services.
As Watkins was at Brentford from the age of 21 to 23, the Bees will also be entitled to a portion of the transfer fee through the solidarity scheme.
A fan-owned club, Exeter have relied heavily on the profitability of their academy to ensure they can survive the unforgiving economic climate in the Football League.
The Grecians have profited from sell-on clauses inserted in deals for academy players including Jay Stansfield, Ethan Ampadu and Matt Grimes.
The Grecians' latest set of accounts revealed the club would have made a loss last year of more than £4.5m had they not received significant transfer income, and the windfall from Watkins' transfer to Al Hilal is priceless as they operate under a self-sufficient financial model.
In total, Exeter will have received at least £7.5m from the career of Watkins. On top of the £1.8m profit from his sale to Brentford, they inserted a 15% sell-on clause which saw them cash £4m from his £28m switch to Aston Villa in 2020.
Competing in League Two, Matt Taylor's side will be hoping for a more fruitful 2026/27 campaign after suffering relegation from League One last term - and this financial boost will be a major benefit.
