Manager Steve King has slammed the contract ruling which means Macclesfield are set to lose Ross Draper for nothing.
The 23-year-old midfielder has agreed to join Scottish Premier Leagueside Inverness Caledonian Thistle – and the Silkmen won’t receive a penny.
Although Draper was out of contract this summer, Macc offered him a new deal so would have been entitled to compensation had he joined another English club.
King said last week that Macc were unwilling to sell their best players to other Blue Square Premier clubs and turned down an offer from league favourites Luton.
The Silkmen also turned down a bid from League Two side Burton, who came back with an improved offer which was too good to refuse.
However, Caley Thistle then approached Draper, exploiting a loophole in the international transfer system to lure him north of the border. "Losing Draper is a big blow," said King. "And it’s frustrating how it’s happened."
"A player’s got to do what he’s got to do, so I don’t blame him. He has the chance to play in the SPL against teams like Celtic so it’s a big move for him.
"But I don’t see how it can be one rule for England and another for Scotland.
"In England you only have to offer non-contract players a new deal a week after the end of the season (to be entitled to compensation) but in Scotland you have to make an offer two months before.
"There’s no way the club could have done that because we didn’t know what league we’d be in and we didn’t know what the budget would be.
"The system’s really unfair, it should be the same rule across the board."
While missing out on a compensation payment won’t have a big impact on Macc’s financial position, it does hamper King’s recruitment plans.
"We can cover the wages for a few more players, but it means I’ll have to bring one less in now," he said.
"Ross did say he wanted to stay in the Football League if the possibility came but we did talk about him staying here and, if a suitable deal for us and for him didn’t come about, then he would have stayed."
