Atletico Madrid are apparently “extremely confident” that they can sign Conor Gallagher, and on TalkSport Chelsea fan Rory Jennings had to digest the news.
He’s pretty clear on what’s happening here – the academy jewels are being forced out to fund the signings of players who can potentially increase in value. The aim is no longer to win or compete, just to make money buying and selling players, while trying to remain competitive enough to qualify for the riches of the Champions League if we can scrape in there.
Take the Gallagher example, as Rory does. Gallagher is going to be sold for about £40m, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall comes in as a direct replacement, for less than £30m.
“And Gallagher is better than Dewsbury-Hall,” Jennings adds, with no argument from the host.
Dewsbury-Hall comes in from the Championship, Gallagher goes to the Champions League. So the team gets weaker, but some net profit is made.
You can see Rory’s take in the clip embedded here:
