Chelsea penny pinching their way into Antonio Conte year three
By Travis Tyler
Chelsea are considering swapping Antonio Conte for Maurizio Sarri. But they are penny pinching and it could force Conte year three.
Marina Granovskaia was brought in to be a negotiator. But part of being a negotiator is understanding when to pull, when to push, and when to let things go. Recently, reports have come out that she and Chelsea had lodged a four million euro bid for Maurizio Sarri, which was denied.
Of course, Sarri has an eight million euro release clause in his contract. It expires at the end of May. He has already been replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, but is still technically on the books of Napoli until someone pays the release clause or negotiates a price after May. The owner of Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis, is content to wait this one out.
And to try to negotiate now, when a release clause is present, shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation. Release clauses are not there to be negotiated. They are the lowest acceptable value a club will accept for a manager or player. Clubs put them in place because anything less is nearly always an automatic “no”.
To try to bring it down, and to audaciously bring it down by half, is frankly an insult to all involved. De Laurentiis knows Chelsea wants a new manager. In recent years, Chelsea have had a bad habit of only pursuing one target at a time and Laurentiis will know this. Sarri is on low enough wages that Laurentiis can pay both Sarri and Ancelotti as he waits for the right price.
But Granovskai wants to penny pinch. In a few days, when the release clause runs out, the price will only go up more. And Chelsea will still need to figure out what to do about the managerial role.
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The one smart thing the board has done so far is retain Antonio Conte. Not because keeping him is the best idea in the world anymore, but because it is looking increasingly likely that Chelsea will mess up their pursuit of Sarri. The Blues will only grow more and more desperate as time goes on. The question is if they will be desperate enough to pay big for Sarri while also paying big to sack Conte.
The Blues are short on time to do so. After the clause expires, the price will only go up. Laurentiis will string the club along to get maximum profits out of a man he wants out the door.
If Chelsea miss the deadline, Conte staying becomes increasingly likely. No other realistic target is on the table, and even if there were, Chelsea have not laid the groundwork for anyone but Sarri. Conte has stated before he would be willing to stay and he, like Laurentiis, knows that he has all the cards.
Conte staying would be a massive risk. At best, he would only stay for the remainder of his contract. But it would be a rockier season than the one just past. Any error on the pitch or behind the scenes and everything will flame out. And then Chelsea will be stuck, midseason, looking for a manager. That would cost far more than any of the prices currently on the table.
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But Granovskaia will continue to penny pinch in the next few days, further delaying the inevitable as the price trickles upward. This entire situation shows that Chelsea are hopelessly unprepared to learn their lessons as they enter one of the most crucial periods in the club’s history.