Crystal Palace outcast Christantus Uche involved in £2m transfer scandal

Super Eagles and Crystal Palace midfielder Christantus Uche has found himself in the middle of a transfer fee scandal, amidst claims from the owner of the Academy that he was back in Nigeria, Afrik Foot reports.

The 22-year-old joined the Eagles on loan from Getafe last summer, although the deal included a mandatory purchase clause if the player started 10 Premier League games.

Uche has played 14 Premier League games for Oliver Glasner’s side this season, with all of them coming from the substitute’s bench, meaning he’ll return to Getafe when his loan spell is over.

However, things have since gotten complicated, after the Getafe spoke out, claiming the club’s coach didn’t like him.

Campos FA owner cries out over false payments in Christantus Uche deal

The owner of Campos, Osuji Patrick Okechukwu, has come out to reveal there were certain financial clauses in the Uche’s transfer that they haven’t gotten.

Uche’s first club in Europe from Campos Football Academy was fifth-tier Spanish side Moralo CP. From there, he joined third-tier club AD Cueta before the move to Getafe came, and subsequently, the loan move to Crystal Palace.

However, Mr Okechukwu revealed that Christantus Uche cut contact with him upon signing with agent Peter Ejiasi who works under the Pintex Sports Agency.

“We arranged for him to move to Spain and he joined Moralo CP in the fourth or fifth division. He played as a defensive midfielder and did very well. We did not get money at that stage because the focus was on helping him develop,” Osuji said in an interview with Footy Africa.

After the Getafe move went through, Mr Okechukwu revealed Uche’s parents started accusing him of taken the money meant for them.

“When the transfer money started coming through Getafe, everything changed. The agent started behaving differently. He stopped communicating properly.

“He even tried to create problems between me, the player, and the player’s parents, for reasons best known to him.

“The parents of Uche began accusing me, saying I had taken money that belonged to them. I groomed this boy from an amateur to a professional. He was not a minor, and they had his direct contact. My issue was simply with the agent and my rightful transfer fee. I did not want any problems with his parents because they are good people.

“We kept going back and forth with the agent, but I did not want to create unnecessary problems, so I told the boy to focus on his football and kept the matter away from the media.

“But the issue was never resolved, and to my greatest surprise, the agent made sure the boy stopped speaking to me.

Last summer, Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes reportedly contact the Campos FA owner over the possibility of a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers, before AC Milan entered the picture following Victor Boniface’s failed medical.

“Shira from Lagos, who had worked with Victor Osimhen, reached out to me. He told me Mendes wanted the player and that the boy should not go to Crystal Palace. I gave him the boy’s contact because I had already been blocked.

“Eventually, discussions continued. Then we heard AC Milan had also become interested. There had been another Nigerian player, Victor Boniface, linked with AC Milan whose deal did not work out, so they were looking again.

“To be honest, Peter met with Mendes and they agreed on a sharing formula for the agency arrangement. Peter accepted the Wolves deal. But later, he went back and told the boy to say he did not like the salary Wolves were offering him.

Mr Okechukwu’s particular concern is the money the Academy are yet to receive. He claims he didn’t see the documents that finalised Uche’s transfer to Spain, because his priority was the midfielder’s development, not monetary gain.

One of a series of seemingly pointed posts on Christantus Uche’s Instagram story.

Uche, on loan at Crystal Palace from Getafe, has not featured in the #CPFC matchday squad since their 3-1 win over Tottenham on March 5th. pic.twitter.com/qrBh6C7Re9

— Bobby Manzi (@BobbyManzi) May 4, 2026

“We were never shown the full transfer documents, so we could not verify the actual transfer fees. The figures online were different; some said €500,000, others said something else. With the agreed sharing formula, we should know exactly what we are entitled to.

But what we received was not what we were supposed to get. We received only €85,000 from Getafe, and it should have been more.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has even looked into the case between us and Peter because he is Nigerian. But he has refused to honour both our agreement and even NFF instructions to pay us.

“If everything had been handled properly, with solidarity payments, training compensation and sell-on percentages, my academy should have received close to £2 million or more,” the Campos FA chairman concluded.

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner revealed that the midfielder’s gametime struggles are not personal and explained that strong competition for places, especially after the club’s reinforcements during the January transfer window, reduced his opportunities.