Matheus Franca runs with the ball during a game against Internacional. (Photo by Fernando Alves/Getty Images)
According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea had two round-table talks with Flamengo over the signing of attacking midfielder Matheus Franca but withdrew from the race as they felt his value was too high.
Romano says the 19-year-old was valued at around €25–30 million, which was considered too high for the West Londoners. That makes sense because we can’t go around paying whatever price a team places on their youngsters.
Now the attacking midfielder is nearing a move to another Premier League side – Crystal Palace. The Eagles seem to have found the successor to Wilfried Zaha, who turned down £200,000 a week to sign for Turkish club Galatasaray.
Besides Chelsea Newcastle were also tracking the youngster but never followed up later, and now Franca is set to undergo his medical on Monday.
The deal consists of various bonuses ranging from €5m (£4.3m) if Franca is nominated for the Ballon d’Or and a 20% sell-on clause for any fee that exceeds the £17m Palace will pay upfront.
Chelsea are meanwhile set to move on as Romano has already confirmed that clubs felt his price tag is too high speaking in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, he said:
“Matheus Franca will undergo medical tests this week, as he’s going to become a new Crystal Palace player. Chelsea held two rounds of talks with Flamengo but never sent any official bids as the €25–30 million value was considered too high.”
It’s acceptable if we missed out on his signing. If there exists a quota of signing young talent from Brazil, then perhaps we have done our part this summer with the signings of Andrey Santos and Angelo Gabriel. It will be better for Chelsea to look for a more experienced player in midfield. We are also pursuing Mohammed Kudus, who is also as versatile as Franca and also boasts experience in Europe at a high level.
France can be more assured of playing time at Selhurst Park as compared to Stamford Bridge. Moreover, Chelsea are gaining a reputation as a club willing to go the extra mile when it comes to paying big money for young talent.
It is very necessary to draw the line at times, as we did in the Matheus Franca case. Who knows, maybe he does well at Palace and we go in for him again in the future…
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