Real Sociedad will have to wait to receive the money it had already accounted for in its financial plans. The transfer of Mohamed-Ali Cho from Niza to Hull City, which seemed almost closed and was pending only the medical recognition, has been suspended at the last minute. According to L'Équipe, the British team, plagued by a plague of injuries that has forced it to restructure its spending priorities in the market, has decided to cancel a 20-million-euro operation at short notice.
The sudden halt of the negotiation hits Anoeta's coffers directly. When Real Sociedad sold the French striker to Niza in the winter market of 2024 for 10 million fixed plus two in variables, it kept a strategic clause: 15% of the profit from a future sale. If the transfer to Hull City had been completed for 20 'kilos', the profit compared to the initial purchase would have been 10 million euros, which would have brought a direct profit of around 1.5 million to the txuri urdin entity. A figure that is hardly negligible, which, for the moment, remains in the air waiting to see if the operation is reactivated or if a new buyer appears before the market closes.
The Real Sociedad's sports management was looking to maximize the performance of a player who did not quite come to fruition in San Sebastián. Cho arrived in Donostia with the promise of a great player, but his passage through the club was discreet: in his first year, he scored two goals and three assists in 24 games, while in his second course, his presence was testimonial, playing 16 games without scoring or assisting. Conscious of his youth and growth margin, in Zubieta they ensured that plusvalía that today suffers an unexpected pause, leaving a much-needed income on hold until the end of the summer.
Real Sociedad, which finished the 2025 season in seventh place in La Liga with 42 points, 11 wins, 9 draws and 11 losses in 31 games, with a goal difference of +1, is 37 points behind the leaders Barcelona. In the next match, the donostiarras will face Elche at their Anoeta stadium on February 28, 2027. Currently, the player Álvaro Odriozola is injured and will not be able to participate in the next match.
