£50MM for Nemanja Matic would crown Chelsea’s run of high-profit sales
By George Perry
Antonio Conte ruefully acknowledged the new normal of a “crazy” transfer market. Chelsea can exploit that trend by extracting £50 million for Nemanja Matic from the always-willing-to-pay Manchester United.
Nemanja Matic perfectly fits the transfer market Antonio Conte described in his press conference on Friday. Conte said that “to buy a simple player – a normal player – you have to start to think about spending €40m to €50m.” Matic is very much that simple, normal player. And if Manchester United wish to complete the equation by making him Chelsea’s second-highest sale, so be it.
The Telegraph reports that Chelsea have opened all the exit doors for Nemanja Matic. The Blues turned down Manchester United’s initial £35 million offer. However, all parties involved want to complete this deal. United has never shown an aversion to over-paying. In light of recent signings, £50 million for Matic will be one of their lighter cheques.
Only Oscar’s £52 million transfer to Shanghai SIPG brought Chelsea a greater windfall than the proposed Matic sale. The Blues would turn about an equal profit on Matic as they did on Oscar. Chelsea acquired Matic (for the second time) for £21 million, while paying £25 million for Oscar.
Nemanja Matic has no claim to being Chelsea’s second-most lucrative sale. Then again, Oscar did not deserve the top spot. But such is the nature of the current transfer market.
"It’s incredible this situation but there is this situation and we must live with it. Lukaku cost a lot of money but the same with Lacazette and Arsenal who spent €65m. For a right-back you spend €60-70m. This is the situation now. We must be very good and not make a mistake when we buy a player. You have to spend a lot and it is very important to make the right choice. – Antonio Conte, International Business Times"
A £50 million transfer fee for Nemanja Matic will be one more ignonimy to the end of Diego Costa’s Chelsea career. Yes, Antonio Conte did degrade Chelsea’s negotiating leverage with his text message to Costa. Chelsea’s desperation to sell will ultimately force them to accept a lower price.
But no player wants to be sold for less than their market value, and definitely not for less than a less talented, less coveted and less vital teammate. A bargain for Atletico Madrid is a slight poke in the ego for Diego Costa, via an undeserved feather in the cap for Nemanja Matic.
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Chelsea could end the summer averaging £35-40 million on the sale of their two most wantaway, surplus players. Considering who those players are, the drama around Costa and Matic’s deficiencies as a player, that is an impressive sum to add to the ledgers. At times over the last two seasons it seemed like Chelsea would be lucky to grasp at any offer for these two players. Instead, they will push Chelsea’s transfer revenue for 2017 upwards of £200 million.
Hopefully Chelsea are already thinking about what they will do with that money, rather than let it collect interest. The Blues were oddly reluctant to spend the first £120 million of 2017 on their top transfer targets. They reportedly balked at spending an additional £3 million for Danilo.
Chelsea are not acting like the rich man’s plaything that are so often accused of being. Their money from player sales is not just “financial fair play” – it is money earned by good purchases, positive player development and shrewd selling. Spending it on the next generation of Chelsea stars is an investment, not an expense.
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The transfer market will not be cooling off any time soon. Chelsea are in a prime position to reassert their dominance in the business end of their game. They have the money, and now must show the will to spend it well.