According to multiple outlets in England, Chelsea FC Owner Roman Abramovich has stepped in to sanction the transfer of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United. The Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Sun and the Daily Mirror among others are all claiming that Matic will get his wish to reunite with his former Manager Jose Mourinho, and that the order is coming from the very top of the organizational food chain.
Abramovich, a billionaire Russian oligarch extremely close to both Vladimir Putin and Jared Kushner, is approving the deal as a favor to the player for all the time he has served at Stamford Bridge.
Basic conventional wisdom punches a lot of holes in the idea of this transfer happening, but the Matic narrative is very consistent across multiple outlets and they have answers to the concerns you might have which would keep this deal from going through.
What about Chelsea giving United the cold shoulder and not wanting to deal with them after what happened with Romelu Lukaku?
Apparently, United will have to overpay, with a supposed “Lukaku tax” in order to acquire Matic. United offered £35 million, but Chelsea are asking £50m to make this happen.
Why does Abramovich want to sell to a league rival?
For this issue, the British papers are citing precedent, and that precedent is Petr Cech, who moved to Arsenal two summers ago.
A deal is certainly not done yet, and there’s a lot that needs to be hammered out, but these reports foreshadow the potential for a move to get done soon.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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