Chelsea’s summer transfer dealings have left plenty of supporters scratching their heads.
It emerged that Chelsea paid over the odds for new goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who came within a whisker of joining Real Madrid in January for just £17.9 million.
The Blues ended up smashing the world record fee for a ‘keeper on Wednesday, when they agreed to splash out £71 million for Kepa to replace the Madrid-bound Thibaut Courtois, who moved for just £35 million.
Kepa, who was on the verge of joining Real Madrid for €20million six months ago, is now off to Chelsea for €80m while Courtois, who is actually worth that, is now going to Madrid for half the price. A cockup of the highest order from Chelsea.
— Andreas Vou (@AndreasVou89) August 8, 2018
The figures involved in the goalkeeping merry-go-round don’t make much sense from a Chelsea point of view and the Kepa deal isn’t the only curious aspect of their summer business.
As part of Courtois’ switch to Real Madrid, an agreement was reached for promising midfielder Mateo Kovacic to move to Stamford Bridge on a season-long loan.
But, in bizarre circumstances, Chelsea did not include a clause in the Kovacic contract which would enable them to make the deal a permanent one if the Croatian international impresses in the Premier League.
The Times reports that Chelsea failed to add an option-to-buy clause in the contract, which is bizarre because it makes it seem like the London club is content to allow one of world’s most promising midfield players to develop with them, only to then let him return to his parent club a more complete player.
No permanent option in Kovacic deal, so Chelsea are just developing players for Real Madrid while Loftus-Cheek and co sit on the sidelines 🙃
— Ed Malyon (@eaamalyon) August 9, 2018
What appears to be a massive oversight from Chelsea translates to the dream scenario for Real Madrid, however.
The La Liga giants have secured the signing of one of the world’s top goalkeepers for a fee that looks like a bargain in today’s market and, as part of the deal, they get to watch one of their great prospects gain experience at one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League with no fear of losing him for good next summer.
Hats off to Florentino Perez.
