CHELSEA’S relationship with superagent Ali Barat in the aftermath of the Nicolas Jackson saga will be interesting.
While Alexander Isak and Yoane Wissa issued statements in a bid to force their own deadline day moves, it was Epic Sports CEO Barat who went public with his determination to secure Jackson’s exit to Bayern Munich.
Nicolas Jackson’s agent Ali Barat of Epic Sports (left) released a statement over his client’s move to Bayern Munich
Like Isak and Wissa, Barat and his client got their way, as Epic proclaimed in the latest press release of a high-profile summer.
But at what cost, it remains to be seen.
On the one hand, Jackson was adamant he no longer wanted to play for Chelsea and there was little point holding on to a player who was that unhappy – as Isak and Wissa also proved.
But to end up with recalled teenager Marc Guiu as the only back-up central striker to Joao Pedro – following Liam Delap’s injury – is a situation that no-one at Stamford Bridge imagined.
Don’t forget Guiu has never started a Premier League game and is also ineligible for the Carabao Cup because he played for Sunderland in round two. It is a messy compromise, at best.
Yet Barat should have some credit in the bank with the Blues after helping them move on four players in the most successful selling summer that any club has ever had.
Barat was involved in the sales of Noni Madueke, Carney Chukwuemeka and Renato Veiga for a combined total of nearly £100million in a window where rival clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal have struggled to generate big fees for unwanted players.
He also worked on defender Aaron Anselmino’s loan to Dortmund, which formed a neat package with Chukwuemeka’s move to the same club.
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Barat and Epic played their part, too, in Soumaila Coulibaly joining Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg from Dortmund
In bowing to Jackson’s wishes, perhaps Blues bosses also recognised that they had mucked Barat about a bit with their aborted pursuit of Xavi Simons.
For weeks, the message from the Simons/Epic camp was that it was “Chelsea or nothing” for the Dutchman.
Until the Blues signed Alejandro Garnacho and switched focus to Brighton’s Facundo Buonanotte, that is.
Barat still managed to find his player a Premier League move to Tottenham instead. Perhaps that was the masterplan all along.
Whatever the truth, Barat and Chelsea will have to put the Jackson melodrama behind them as best they can.
Because his star client, Moises Caicedo, is still at Chelsea and is one player that the Blues surely do not want to sell anytime soon.
Some of the individuals who form the BlueCo ownership group are not renowned for having thick skins.
But for the collective good, they may have to move on and accept business is business.
QUESTION TIME
GettyOnly Reece James remains from Chelsea’s 2021 UCL-winning squad after Chilwell’s departure[/caption]
BEN Chilwell’s move to Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg gives the 28-year-old the chance to revive his career by playing for a club in the top half of Ligue 1 and the Conference League.
But any transfer fee will have to pass a “fair value” test by the PL and Europe’s governing body as they try to stop multi-club groups manipulating the market.
What would that look like?
Chilwell stood to earn more than £8m if he had stayed at Chelsea for the remaining ten months of his £200,000-per-week deal.
Very few players outside Paris Saint-Germain – if any – are paid that kind of money in the French league.
Certainly none at Strasbourg, where the total annual wage bill is about £16.5m, with former Southampton striker Sekou Mara as top earner on about £25,000 per week.
Yet why should Chilwell have agreed to write off what he was owed, especially after the way he had been treated by Chelsea?
Chilwell won’t be playing for nothing at Strasbourg so he may have settled for a payout below the full value of his remaining Blues contract.
Bearing all that in mind, a fee of £10m would feel about right for a left back who missed most of the 2023/24 season with injury and made just one Premier League start while on loan at Crystal Palace in the second half of last campaign.
Chilwell gets his pay out and, after everything has been worked out, Chelsea get a bit of cash, too.
But if the fee is much more than £10m, questions will be asked.
Chilwell’s fresh start will include facing old mates from Palace when Strasbourg face the Eagles in the Conference League.
But spare a thought for former Chelsea youngster Ishe Samuels-Smith.
The left back, 19, joined Strasbourg from the Blues barely a month ago yet is now set to head back across the Channel to join Championship side Swansea City on loan.
CAUSING A STER
GettyRaheem Sterling would not be forced into a move he didn’t want to make on deadline day[/caption]
RAHEEM Sterling made it clear he would not be rushed into a decision about his future on deadline day like last year.
And in the end Chelsea did not give him a decision to make.
So Sterling, 30, will carry on earning £325,000 per week to train separately at Cobham until at least January – unless the Blues come up with something radical.
The former England international found himself on his way to Arsenal when an 11th-hour proposal arrived 12 months ago.
That deal did not really work out for anyone and Sterling was adamant he wanted time to make the right choice this summer.
The Saudi Pro League and the MLS were non-starters.
The former Manchester City winger has not given up on adding to his 82 England caps and wants the chance to play regularly so that he can earn that reward.
The attitude of Chelsea and boss Enzo Maresca to Sterling and other members of the “bomb squad” has been at best off-hand and at worst cruel, treating them effectively as non-people.
But that is the ruthless way private equity bosses like the Blues’ co-owners often operate in other industries – only this time it is players who are treated as trading commodities.
Much is made of Sterling’s wages and sympathy is lacking in some quarters.
Yet the Blues’ failure to present a serious option to him this summer, despite having months to do so, feels short-sighted and vindictive.
Co-owner Todd Boehly was playing at being sporting director when Chelsea made Sterling the first marquee signing of the new regime three years ago.
The length and terms of Sterling’s contract are on Boehly and the club, not the player..
So they will have to put some effort into finding a resolution.
WHEREFORE ART THOU, ROMEO?
Instagram @LavizzyRomeo Lavia’s ‘burner’ Instagram account has just over 8,000 followers[/caption]
‘BURNER’ social media accounts are becoming increasingly common among professional footballers, with Chelsea’s Romeo Lavia one such example.
The Belgian midfielder’s verified Instagram account has an impressive 732,000 followers, but he has a lesser-known, more personal account with just over 8,000 people following it.
The profile named ‘@Lavizzy’, has been giving insight into the injured star’s recovery, as well as fashion pics.
And, possibly controversially for a Chelsea star, he revealed his admiration for a former Tottenham player.
Lavia’s latest post on August 31 showed him watching the Champions League draw on a laptop, doing solo shuttle runs on a Cobham training pitch, and in the back of a car watching a compilation of ex-Spurs midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.
The YouTube video was titled ‘Tanguy Ndombele just loves beating the press…’.
Lavia’s ball-playing ability is key to Enzo Maresca‘s side beating opponents’ press.
The injured Belgian midfielder won’t be available for selection immediately after the international break, as he continues to work with specialists with the hopes of being able to return for good, as Reece James seems to have done.
Instagram – @Lavizzy
LOVE AND RATE
SEPTEMBER is often one of the most exciting months in football, on and off the pitch.
There is often transfer deadline day, European competition returns, and for any football fan who owns a games console, the best game releases: EAFC, previously known as FIFA.
The players’ ratings in the game are often taken seriously, not least by the stars themselves.
And while the ratings haven’t yet been made official, they seem to have been leaked.
According to those leaks – which are often correct, Chelsea’s joint highest rated players will be Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo, who have both been given a score of 87/99.
Many fans are already claiming that Palmer should be higher, with Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal and Florian Wirtz all better rated than the Chelsea star.
As far as the Blues go, Palmer and Caicedo are followed by Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez on 84, with Reece James 81, and Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill and Andrey Santos given a score of 80.
New superstar Estevao is making his debut in the series, having been an unknown entity in last year’s version, and has been given a rating of 78 – a strong start for an 18-year-old.
The ratings will be made official on September 8.
ELECTRIC ESTEVAO
Snapchat – Calvin BasseyCalvin Bassey admitted he got ‘cooked’ by Chelsea’s Estevao[/caption]
AlamyEstevao was electric against Fulham in Chelsea’s 2-0 win[/caption]
PLAYING against Estevao Willian in the Premier League could be a frightening challenge for any defender if Fulham‘s Calvin Bassey is to be believed.
On his first Premier League start at Stamford Bridge, Brazilian Estevao was a threat down the right side and drove at Bassey on more than one occasion.
Nigerian defender Bassey shared his thoughts on the Chelsea winger on Snapchat.
A fan asked him about playing against Estevao, and he responded: “Bro he went past me twice, inside and (down the) line, I got cooked. Charge it.”
Estevao is still awaiting his first Prem goal, and came close to getting it against Fulham after getting the better of Bassey, but his shot was weak and easy for Bernd Leno to save.
But with the way he’s playing, a goal against Brentford or Manchester United in either of his next two games wouldn’t be a surprise.
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