Orlando Gill heads to Lille for $4.65 million, with San Lorenzo keeping 50% of future earnings

Number 12 jersey, ear to ear smile and the Lille crest behind him. That's how Orlando Gill looked this Wednesday at his official unveiling as the French club's new goalkeeper, the destination he chose after leaving San Lorenzo. And as often happens with big sales, the Boedo club made sure to lay out every last detail of the deal on social media.

So how much did Gill fetch in his move to Europe? San Lorenzo confirmed the sale closed at $4,650,000 gross (about 4,000,000 euros), a figure for which the club gave up 100% of the Paraguayan's sporting rights and 50% of his economic rights. That means if Lille decides to sell him to another club down the road, San Lorenzo will still pocket half of that future profit thanks to the 50% stake it held onto.

There's more to the numbers behind the transfer. The club also revealed it settled a $120,000 debt owed to the player, who signed a debt clearance certificate before boarding his flight to France, a routine procedure but one that isn't always made public in such detail.

Another figure that caught fans' attention was the extra income the club will receive tied to Gill's run at the World Cup with the Paraguayan national team. San Lorenzo confirmed it will collect roughly $300,000 for that participation, in which the goalkeeper played a decisive role: he was key in the penalty shootout that let Paraguay eliminate Germany.

A well rounded deal for the Ciclon

Adding up every piece, the Gill operation ended up being the kind of sale San Lorenzo knows how to value: not only did the club pocket a significant sum right away, it also locked in a future percentage and even added extra income from the player's performance at the World Cup. For a club that often needs this kind of financial boost, closing the transfer while retaining half of the economic rights is no small detail when thinking about a possible future resale.

On the other end, Gill arrives at a Lille side that picked him as one of its bets between the posts, hoping he can establish himself in one of Europe's most competitive leagues after the exposure the World Cup gave him. The photo with the number 12 jersey was just the first step of a chapter that begins with high expectations, both for the goalkeeper and for the French club that decided to bet on him.