Chelsea have been saved from a huge amount of trouble this summer by the advent of the Saudi Premier League, whose clubs are now bidding away for our unwanted players – they’ve signed a few and have a few more on the way.
It’s been so convenient for us that it’s raised suspicions of some sort of insider trading or dodgy dealing from other parties. But as Ben Jacobs said on the first CaughtOffside show, there’s nothing that unusual about it. Their spending it “consistently crazy,” as he put it.
Yes they’re paying big wages to Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly, but they’re also doing the same with players from other clubs. Equally, they’re signing all 3 for the kind of market price you’d expect them to reach. If we were getting €50m for Mendy with a year left on his contract we’d understand the suspicion – but instead we’re getting a modest €8m or so.
You can see them speaking in the clip embedded here:
