You know you’ve reached the critical stage of a transfer when you’re getting multiple updates every day from all of the top sources in the game.
Claim and counter claim in Maignan chase
This morning, the Gazzetta dello Sport said Chelsea had agreed a deal for AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan at €18m.
However, subsequently there’s been big pushback against that from a number of sources. Gianluca Di Marzio was the most forthright, saying that a €15m offer from the Blues had been rejected, and that it would take €20m to “unblock” the operation.
Chelsea journalists have now weighed in too – Ben Jacobs says that the club have “made their €15m valuation clear”, implying they won’t go any higher than that. Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol makes it even more clear, saying the Blues “have let it be known they are prepared to pay AC Milan a maximum €15m (£12.6m) for Mike Maignan.”
On the one hand, this deal feels really close, with not much difference between the valuations. On the other hand, it feels like both teams are drawing a line in the sand in terms of the transfer fee.
Chelsea can’t let amazing opportunity fall away over small money
We’ve made our views on the Maignan deal very clear at this point – he’s a really good, really experienced player in a position we need an upgrade in. He’s also a leader and a winner and a player who would be an ideal addition to the dressing room.
To miss out on him over a few million euros would be totally crazy given how many hundreds of them we’ve splashed around the last few years. If this falls apart now, this is a terrible look for those in charge.
Surely we’re of going to let a quality goalkeeper slip through the net for the sake of a few pounds. Considering the amount of money that has been wasted on goalkeepers over the last few seasons Maignan is a massive upgrade. I couldn’t get my head around the fact that our best goalkeeper from last season was put out on loan and Sanchez was reinstated as our No1 goalkeeper.
Please sign Mike Maignan, the difference in money means nothing compared to other goalkeepers. Chelsea need a goalkeeper and a second striker.