Real Madrid thinks they can succeed where their greatest rivals failed. More likely, Real Madrid and Barcelona will both succeed in the simplest game of the transfer season: humiliating Chelsea.
I can’t even decide which obscure pop culture reference to go with here. The time Waylon Smithers lamented “Can’t man walk down the street without being offered a job?!” Or The Far Side cartoon where the dentist tells the patient he’s going to try to cram a tennis ball into the patient’s propped-open mouth, just to see if they can? Both convey the absurdity of the offers being made and the offers being rejected for Willian. At this point, knowing Chelsea will fluff their lines on the business, it’s just gratuitous.
Barcelona moved on to Malcom after Chelsea rejected three offers for Willian, the final being around £55 million. The Blues seem to be holding out for an offer from implosion-in-progress Manchester United, because they would never pass up the opportunity to sell to Jose Mourinho.
Real Madrid are now in the fray, supposedly ofering £100 million for Willian and Thibaut Courtois. At the most generous valuation for Courtois, that prices Willian at £50 million. At a more realistic valuation for the goalkeeper, Willian’s share comes up to £60 million. Going completely by the book, Willian’s part of the fee nears £70 million.
The offers for Willian are approaching fully double his “expected” market value, let alone any value Chelsea should be more than happy to accept. The only thing more baffling than his rise to the hottest property of the summer is Chelsea’s stalwart reluctance to sell. This is a club that let Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and, oh, Kevin de Bruyne all go for a song or less. But here they are manning the battlements over a teenager stuck in a 29-year old body.
Chelsea are doing the exact opposite of what is happening at Manchester United. Jose Mourinho is ready to let Anthony Martial leave on a free, anything to get rid of a 22-year old who scored nine goals and five assists in 1500 Premier League minutes. Willian scored six and assisted on seven in 1800 minutes, but could be the highest outbound transfer by a Premier League team this summer.
Chelsea do not have perfect options on the wing, but they certainly have enough to handle the loss of Willian. Callum Hudson-Odoi is exceeding all expectations in pre-season. The biggest risk in keeping him in the first team this season is the physicality of the Premier League and schedule of the Europa League combining to a premature breakdown of his young body. Ross Barkley is another option for the right wing. His body, though not as young as Hudson-Odoi’s, is prone to breaking down. But there is still Victor Moses and even Pedro, who has been Chelsea’s leading goalscorer this pre-season. Between those four players, Chelsea can surely manage a potent forward line with a strong right winger to complement Eden Hazard on the left.
The ridiculousness of every aspect of the Chelsea-Willian-Spanish clubs-Manchester United situation makes it feel like this is all a giant set-up. After watching Chelsea rebuff Barcelona, Real Madrid decided to one-up them by making an even bigger offer that would make Chelsea look even dumber to reject. They did so with complete confidence that the Blues would not call their bluff. At the very least, perhaps it is a clever negotiating tactic in their quest for Thibaut Courtois.
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