1 hour ago, DarkMata said:

Yeah probably £80 million and a penny.

We’re not arsenal, I hope it’s a respectable bid whatever it is. Maybe 100m. Imagine calling that a respectable bid 😂 World’s gone mad.

17 hours ago, dansubrosa said:

 

Not ruled out. Not confirmed either. Nice clickbait from Simon there!

51 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

Not ruled out. Not confirmed either. Nice clickbait from Simon there!

Exactly. We've learned nothing from the farcical summer.

Just signed Mudryk for 100m. Can't see why we couldn't have wrapped up this deal way earlier

15 minutes ago, Deino said:

Just signed Mudryk for 100m. Can't see why we couldn't have wrapped up this deal way earlier

If anything us slapping money down on Mudryk gives me some hope this could still happen. 

Is not like vivell, winstanley and Co have been on stasis and just woken up and been like "get Mudryk now". 

Clearly Arsenal were getting close, we received some encouragement from the player and Shaktar, and decided he is who we want (with Rafael Leao staying at Milan) and we were willing to put money down.

So we could end up doing exactly the same with Benfica. We may decide to slap down that release clause, or put a larger fee in installments down. 

Given how quickly we went 0 to 100 to land Mudryk, we could do so again for Enzo.

1 minute ago, axman2526 said:

If anything us slapping money down on Mudryk gives me some hope this could still happen. 

Is not like vivell, winstanley and Co have been on stasis and just woken up and been like "get Mudryk now". 

Clearly Arsenal were getting close, we received some encouragement from the player and Shaktar, and decided he is who we want (with Rafael Leao staying at Milan) and we were willing to put money down.

So we could end up doing exactly the same with Benfica. We may decide to slap down that release clause, or put a larger fee in installments down. 

Given how quickly we went 0 to 100 to land Mudryk, we could do so again for Enzo.

I agree with this but our spending is about to cross(if it hasn't) 500m already. Would Todd really push us to a billion in a single season? 

4 minutes ago, Deino said:

I agree with this but our spending is about to cross(if it hasn't) 500m already. Would Todd really push us to a billion in a single season? 

They bought the club In a legally binding agreement that saw 2.5bill for the actually purchase and 1.75bill minimum committed to investment in the club over 10 years. Nothing to say they have to wait 10 years to spend it or will not spend more.

As is it sounds like the increased material cost would make it hard, if not impossible, to rebuild the stadium and have anything left over for players. 

Just now, axman2526 said:

They bought the club In a legally binding agreement that saw 2.5bill for the actually purchase and 1.75bill minimum committed to investment in the club over 10 years. Nothing to say they have to wait 10 years to spend it or will not spend more.

As is it sounds like the increased material cost would make it hard, if not impossible, to rebuild the stadium and have anything left over for players. 

Definitely agree but why spend a quarter of that on one position is the one thing I can't understand. Surely Potter must be advising them to fix the midfield first. We are down to 2 fit senior midfielders as it is, RB 1, LB 1 and a dire need to sign an experienced CB that can replace Silva and Koulibaly. GKs need sorting out too

1 hour ago, Deino said:

Just signed Mudryk for 100m. Can't see why we couldn't have wrapped up this deal way earlier

Because Benfica said 120 in one go or no go!

Which is 50 mil more in one go. 

1 minute ago, Night-T said:

Because Benfica said 120 in one go or no go!

Which is 50 mil more in one go. 

You don't know the specific reason why the deal broke down.

Those are just rumours

4 minutes ago, Deino said:

You don't know the specific reason why the deal broke down.

Those are just rumours

The Benfica manager literally said at the press conference. 

Chelsea knows we don't want to sell the player. They know that they have to pay the clause if they want to get him. It is a very clear situation.

I don't think that Schmidt was starting rumours that are so clear. 

23 minutes ago, Night-T said:

The Benfica manager literally said at the press conference. 

Chelsea knows we don't want to sell the player. They know that they have to pay the clause if they want to get him. It is a very clear situation.

I don't think that Schmidt was starting rumours that are so clear. 

That would be after the heel turn the rumours said Chelsea did. Managers also can tweak certain facts during press conferences. 

Had Todd/anyone involved with the deal went ahead with the proposed 120m deal earlier instead of trying to lowball at the last minute, Enzo would have played a few days ago. I can play the speculative/rumour game too. 

Fact of the matter is, nobody knows exactly what went down and what actually happened beyond closed doors. All we know is our team didn't want to pay the agreed upon 120m but is then ok to pay 100m for Mudryk. 

I really hope we have enough left to go for this guy, he's exactly what our team needs

5 minutes ago, Deino said:

That would be after the heel turn the rumours said Chelsea did. Managers also can tweak certain facts during press conferences. 

Had Todd/anyone involved with the deal went ahead with the proposed 120m deal earlier instead of trying to lowball at the last minute, Enzo would have played a few days ago. I can play the speculative/rumour game too. 

Fact of the matter is, nobody knows exactly what went down and what actually happened beyond closed doors. All we know is our team didn't want to pay the agreed upon 120m but is then ok to pay 100m for Mudryk. 

Pretty sure that he is not just making this up. Because Chelsea could just take him on lies then. 

Enzo was the main target and first choice. If the payment deal would have been similar or close to Murdyk they would have gone for him. It is clear that it is not. 

There is a reason why Chelsea didn't pursue.  Simply because what Benfica wants is too much (in 1 go). 

 

13 minutes ago, Night-T said:

Pretty sure that he is not just making this up. Because Chelsea could just take him on lies then. 

Enzo was the main target and first choice. If the payment deal would have been similar or close to Murdyk they would have gone for him. It is clear that it is not. 

There is a reason why Chelsea didn't pursue.  Simply because what Benfica wants is too much (in 1 go). 

 

All the video proved was that we agreed on a 120m clause then at the last minute tried to renegotiate. 

Nothing about not paying in full. 

7 minutes ago, Deino said:

All the video proved was that we agreed on a 120m clause then at the last minute tried to renegotiate. 

Nothing about not paying in full. 

In order to trigger the clause. You need to pay the amount in full. 

He says it super clear. They did not want to sell the player. Chelsea can only get the player when they pay the clause. A clause needs to be paid in full. That is how it is in order to trigger it. After chelsea initially agreed to pay the clause and made Enzo's head crazy, chelsea tried to renegotiate. That is what pissed Benfica off. So to come back your initial question. Why does Chelsea not just pay a few mil more if they are paying 100 for our friend from Shakhtar. 

Because They pay 70 mil direct en the rest in different terms. Benfica only accepts when Chelsea pay the 120 in full because they don't want to sell the player this transfer window and they can't say no to that fee. 

This would be 50 mil more direct to pay and on this years books. 

48 minutes ago, Night-T said:

In order to trigger the clause. You need to pay the amount in full. 

He says it super clear. They did not want to sell the player. Chelsea can only get the player when they pay the clause. A clause needs to be paid in full. That is how it is in order to trigger it. After chelsea initially agreed to pay the clause and made Enzo's head crazy, chelsea tried to renegotiate. That is what pissed Benfica off. So to come back your initial question. Why does Chelsea not just pay a few mil more if they are paying 100 for our friend from Shakhtar. 

Because They pay 70 mil direct en the rest in different terms. Benfica only accepts when Chelsea pay the 120 in full because they don't want to sell the player this transfer window and they can't say no to that fee. 

This would be 50 mil more direct to pay and on this years books. 

That's not what he says at all. You're just extrapolating on a sentence. Of course the clause needs to be met, it doesn't have to be in full upfront as long as the agreed upon fee is met.

The point is, the transfer committee agreed upon a fee then they backtracked to try to renegotiate whilst destablizing the player so much so that the player went on a ministrike. 

It's never just about the money, it's the respect and decorum being shown that's out of line. 

I'm done with this discussion, it's really stupid how they bungled an easy buy for the hottest prospect in world football. A 100m+20m add ons over a 7-8 year contract would have easily got Enzo over the line and they fecked it up. No way Benfica would do a deal with us for this window unless we massively overpay

Could also secure a payment deal that suits both clubs and have him join in the summer, like Nkunku. That suited both clubs, so could this. Worth waiting for right?

36 minutes ago, Deino said:

That's not what he says at all. You're just extrapolating on a sentence. Of course the clause needs to be met, it doesn't have to be in full upfront as long as the agreed upon fee is met.

The point is, the transfer committee agreed upon a fee then they backtracked to try to renegotiate whilst destablizing the player so much so that the player went on a ministrike. 

It's never just about the money, it's the respect and decorum being shown that's out of line. 

I'm done with this discussion, it's really stupid how they bungled an easy buy for the hottest prospect in world football. A 100m+20m add ons over a 7-8 year contract would have easily got Enzo over the line and they fecked it up. No way Benfica would do a deal with us for this window unless we massively overpay

We blew it and it's our fault, if you can't afford the player why even try...

Is this dead now?

3 hours ago, Drogba1 said:

Is this dead now?

If we still really want him and are smart about it, no.

Benficas position was clear from the get go. Either release clause is paid or player is not leaving this window. Key point being they wanted him to stay this season as they push on for the title and a crack at the CL with a easy next round draw.

Benfica have not waved a magic wand and suddenly are not a selling club. They know Enzo won't be staying there his whole career, nor do there board truly want that. They want players to progress so well they can sell them for huge profits.

So if we go to Benfica with a good offer, like along the lines of the Mudryk deal only, and this is the key point, that he arrives here in the summer they will more than likely negotiate with us.

Even Chelsea couldn't afford to pay out the release fee outright, so I reckon no deal this window. Next season will change, although there are teams in better position to land him. Easier way is to beat Westham, hopefully they get relegated and we get Rice on a discount deal in the summer.

36 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Easier way is to beat Westham, hopefully they get relegated and we get Rice on a discount deal in the summer.

Getting the inferior player because it's "easier" is what got us in this mess in the first place.

51 minutes ago, Argo said:

Getting the inferior player because it's "easier" is what got us in this mess in the first place.

So is overpaying for the most shiny thing in the market without thinking through . I get it he just won the world cup, but he only had 20 something games in Europe.

Surely the next step must be to try to offload players which will be no mean feat. I think I read somewhere on here that we need to have players go out before we can bring others in.

There are at least 6 in and around the squad that could be shipped out now without affecting us at all. And we have a decision to make on Harvey Vale whose Hull loan appears to not be working out.

The big question is who will take them.