iMO Scandicci wanted to renegotiate the salary paid to Malinov. I am sure she was highly paid - her salary was pretty much on the top. Since she was underperforming, the club felt it overpaid her (did not play much and she was not delivery the results). She wasn’t going to budge. The club did the math, pay the penalty for breaching the contract and hire another setter cheaper. It is financially in their favor for it will be saving money. In the current state Malinov is, she would not be making much difference to the team’s performance; Yao Di might not or might make a difference to the team’s performance. Either way changing or keeping the setter wouldn’t be a disaster since YD is a good setter and has many years of experience.. The management opted to save some money.
Do you have any source about the salary renegotiation stuff ?