3 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Crazy times gents, I'll be honest I don't think they will accept €120m with €80m paid upfront purely out of principle and to be spiteful, but also just because they don't want to sell. 

The owner wants to play hardball, unless we've smoothed things over with him I reckon it's release clause or nothing. 

Problem is when you drop €120m on a release clause, the whole financial package can end up being €160m- 200m if you count player wages especially since we're doing 7 year deals. 

Edit: eff autocorrect,

On another note I'll add on that nothing has changed from the player's side he's wanted to come since we first moved for him. The numbers are astronomical, but at the end of the day he's exactly what we need. I think Boehly knows this and will try and get it done. Let's wait and see

One thing I will say is expect a massive clear out in the summer, the 7 year deals help with financial fair play, but don't be surprise to see us sell loads in the summer and potentially make a profit to all the haters dismay per usual Chelsea behaviour

 

4 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

 

Couldn’t believe it when I read Romano this morning, Sydney time. Whatever happens this is the biggest January window ever and thank goodness we have owners with y]this much money. 

Wow I thought this one was dead in the water until at least the summer. Didn't see this coming.

 

This guy again. Surely there must be other options out there which would improve us and not cost 120m?

2 minutes ago, Zeta said:

This guy again. Surely there must be other options out there which would improve us and not cost 120m?

Not many midfielders out there that are going to come for cheap unless you're looking for Barkley level of players.

Situation with Enzo Fernandez. Can confirm Chelsea are in direct talks to try and pull off a deal, as @CLMerlo and @Matt_Law_DT report. After early January talks stalled, #CFC never totally gave up. Chelsea now trying to find a way outside of the release clause.
 

I am told Enzo Fernandez has today reiterated in strong terms to both Rui Costa and Roger Schmidt he wants to leave. In addition, Benfica's board remain divided about accepting a structured deal. Their public stance is 'release clause or nothing' but #CFC testing that.

#CFC's last resort would be to trigger the release clause, but this has always been downplayed. But make no mistake, #CFC are prepared to go, as one club source put it, "significantly higher" than their original bid. Some sources say that's £105m, but the structure key.
 

Rui Costa, Jorge Mendes and Chelsea’s owners have all held cordial talks, despite Schmidt claiming there was bad blood between #CFC and Benfica.

Benfica have a game on the final day of the window, so if Chelsea do get a breakthrough all parties will ideally want things resolved on Monday.

@benjacobs

I think if we get Enzo, we won’t need to spend much more over the next couple of windows. 

1 hour ago, hawkster said:

This is too much money ffs , he's never played in a league like ours.

I am absolutely sure that this isn’t happening, but regards the money and not playing in a league like ours, if he signs for City or even Brighton and proves to be a great player in our league, best of luck buying him for any amount. Ends up at City and that’s where he’ll stay, and at a Brighton, well, 250 million would likely be their asking price!

Edited January 29, 20233 yr by Snedger

We should do this, and for all the stress, I think Enzo deserves a 12 year contract. 

23 minutes ago, JM7 said:

I think if we get Enzo, we won’t need to spend much more over the next couple of windows. 

I think we will if the FFP rules don't change or we get some sort of ban... which is not out of realms of possibility

Can you imagine rival fans who said we would go bust and we are now broke and the big spending is over 😂😂🤣🤣

 

Boehly isn’t taking no for an answer.

7 minutes ago, El regreso said:

Can you imagine rival fans who said we would go bust and we are now broke and the big spending is over 😂😂🤣🤣

They will hold onto every plausible speculation of failure and if we overcome it, they will move on to the next one until we eventually reap the rewards of our spending and they will then say it wasn’t deserved. Our spending leading to failure is deserved, but not if it leads to success. 
 

Simply drink in the tears. 

9 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

They will hold onto every plausible speculation of failure and if we overcome it, they will move on to the next one until we eventually reap the rewards of our spending and they will then say it wasn’t deserved. Our spending leading to failure is deserved, but not if it leads to success. 
 

Simply drink in the tears. 

That is it - from every angle the media and officials have always treated Chelsea a little different, should we say.  Your closing few words say it best, and are pretty hilarious also. 

2 hours ago, JM7 said:

Chelsea officials could travel to Portugal to try to get this one done - just as Eghbali and Winstanley flew to Turkey to get the Mudryk deal over the line #cfc
 

@mattlaw

They will need to to stand any chance imo

4 hours ago, timetowaste said:

I'm shocked that you're taking the pessimistic stance 😄

I firmly believe Benfica won't accept anything but the release clause being paid in full. They are pi$$Ed and us.

I am sorry I forget his name but the Benfica fan on here told us from the get go Rui Costa is the one who has stated, from the start, release clause or nothing. Not Benficas fans, not their manager, not their board, it is all on Rui Costa and he has been reported by basically all of these same people saying we are determined to sign Enzo, that Rui Costa will not sell him unless the clause is met.

If we give Enzo the money to play the clause it counts as income and is different different for FFP purposes, so we better be sure qe are just getting a fine and not kicked out of the PL and Europe if we go that way.

Also Benfica play on the 31st, so that really limits deal time if Enzo is involved.

Sources insist that the negotiations have all the ingredients — #Chelsea's money, Benfica being a selling club + Jorge Mendes — to indicate this deal for Enzo Fernandez will get done.

(@JacobsBen)

“Negotiations (for Enzo) are ongoing and Paul Winstanley, Christopher Vivell & Behdad Eghbali are working hard to get this done.

Benfica & Rui Costa need to give the final ‘yes’. There is more of a feeling now this will happen.” 

@siphillipssport

Todd Boehly & Behdad Egbhali are really pushing for Enzo, they’re prepared to offer crazy money, prepared to meet £105m clause value, they want him immediately so other top clubs don’t get Enzo in the summer. (@FabrizioRomano)

Owners & Chelsea board all involved to get Enzo done, even if Rui Costa resists. (@FabrizioRomano) #CFC

Sources : Chelsea have two members involved in talks for Enzo right now, David Barnard and Christopher Vivell, Jorge Mendes is the third individual to be actively working these past hours.

Boehly is building a f**king juggernaut and I'm loving it ♥️♥️♥️

Them fools on Twitter and other forums talking about morals can do one. Acting all like the Greta Thunberg of football saying this kind of spending is not fair to others. Oh, the irony, United fans talking about this and protesting against the Glazers for not spending enough. Them fools would kiss some rich Saudi or Qatari on top of their dicks if they were to buy the club from the Glazers and invest billions. But when Chelsea do it it's morally wrong...

2 hours ago, Zeta said:

This guy again. Surely there must be other options out there which would improve us and not cost 120m?

I like his technical qualities but I've seen him play twice for Benfica in the league and both times I watched him get rinsed defensively a few times. Similar to what you'd see when opposition run past Jorginho. That worries me especially since we'll most likely play a midfield two going forward. 

That said, there is simply not a midfielder in the world who is the complete package and available at that price. 

3 hours ago, timetowaste said:

I can close to guarantee that you're wrong 

We'll see hope you're right time will tell 🤞

Still feel like the price is insane. 

But hey ho no brakes on the hype train.