“It fascinates me” – Fabrizio Romano on Chelsea’s potential €60m bid for 17-year-old
The merry-go-round at Chelsea continues to turn to the extent where, frankly, no one other than Todd Boehly appears to have a clue as to what’s happening next.
Mauricio Pochettino finally blew his top at reporters in his pre-match press conference for the West Ham game when asked yet another question about his future, and with so many players linked with exits again, it looks as though this summer transfer window will be another tumultuous time for the Blues.
They continue to be talked up as potential purchasers of 17-year-old Brazilian talent, Estevao Willian too.
Chelsea’s potential bid for Messinho fascinates Romano
Known as Messinho, he’s hardly made a dent in the Palmeiras first-team – transfermarkt note just five Brazilian top-flight appearances – and yet his €60m release clause could soon be met.
“Many questions from Chelsea fans about Estevao Willian aka ‘Messinho.’ Born in 2007, he recently had his debut with Palmeiras and he’s a fantastic top talent with a release clause in his contract of €60m,” Fabrizio Romano said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive Daily Briefing.
“We had information about an official tweet from Chelsea but what I’m hearing is that Chelsea have not presented an official bid. There is still no official bid from any club at this point, not even a formal bid at the moment. Everything is about talks.
“I already told you many times that Chelsea are really well informed on the situation. They have been tracking Estevao since November, he’s one of the talents they’re monitoring in South America and are in regular contact but no formal proposal has been sent to Palmeiras yet.
“The player is also appreciated by Barcelona, but because of Financial Fair Play Barcelona won’t spend €55/60m on Estevao in this transfer window.
“Let’s see what Chelsea will decide to do with this deal because it fascinates me.”
Plenty of players from South America have found their way to European football and been a huge success.
There’s little doubt that, in time, Messinho would arguably be joining that long and illustrious list.
However, to be throwing such money around for a player that has only managed five senior appearances at this point takes Boehly’s largesse to an entirely new level.
The American appears intent on hoovering up the world’s best footballing talent, regardless of whether his first-team manager believes they will fit into the dynamic.
As has been seen during Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure, too many youngsters and not enough experienced heads has caused problems.
Of course, it will be the Argentinian who will be the fall guy if the club don’t get a European place for next season, but the difficulty of working under a regime that appear to be using the club as their play thing is clear.
Were Pochettino to be relieved of his duties, whomever comes in his stead will be acutely aware of the lie of the land at Stamford Bridge, and surely no manager in their right mind would want to work under those conditions?
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