Since before the end of last season the club were tracking three young English players, the intent being to bolster the contingent of talented native youth players to satisfy incoming FIFA/UEFA squad composition rules.
One of these players we signed – Saturday’s goal scorer Daniel Sturridge, for what turned out to be a tribunal fee of £3.5million rising dependant on performances for club and country within a set period. Dan’s start at the club was patchy but his apparent hard work and willingness to learn since the end of November has seen his stock rise significantly within the club to the point where he is starting to pay back his fee with goals when given the chance.
The second of these players was Charlton Athletic’s Jonjo Shelvey. The young attacking midfield player had impressed our scouts to the point where they felt his acquisition represented a significant cost saving when balanced against the kind of player he could develop into. The sticking point in this deal however was Charlton’s valuation and the players unwillingness to swap regular football with what he believed to be a prolonged period in the reserve setup. The matter was dropped to be re-evaluated either this January or next summer, with the latter option looking more likely as Charlton’s progress this season will determine any likely fee. Watch this space on that one.
The final young player was one of Sturridge’s England U21 teammates – Adam Johnson. Adam has been on the scene for a couple of seasons now, first coming into the Middleborough picture when covering for the injured Downing in the 05-06 season. Injury to Stewart Downing has tended to dictate Johnson’s career progress in general up until this season, with chances coming when the senior England man was on the physio table. Chelsea, as with Shelvey, attempted to sign Johnson in the summer transfer window and were reasonably confident of striking a deal. This sadly was scuppered when Aston Villa signed Downing and then ‘Boro manager Gareth Southgate decreed that he must retain his young winger to challenge for immediate promotion. Encouragingly for Chelsea the player and his agent had intimated a strong disposition towards coming to the club, and this interest has remained with our scouts monitoring his performances both for England and ‘Boro this season.
The current situation with Johnson is Chelsea are willing to complete the finance for the deal now, acquiring the players registration, but him being immediately loaned back to his current club to complete their season. This arrangement satisfies both parties as it allows Middlesbrough to retain a valuable asset to stabilise their league form, and Chelsea to register the player prior to any worst case scenario regarding the transfer ban. We understand that news on this deal could be released later this week.
On the subject of buy-and-loan arrangements, news from Spain is the deal between Chelsea and Athletico Madrid is not dead with regards to his move in the summer. Chelsea’s initial ambition was to bring the player in immediately this January in order to bolster the tip of Ancelotti’s ‘diamond’ formation and put pressure on Anelka and Drogba for a starting birth, alternatively starting at part of a front 3 alongside them.
Althetico have fuelled speculation on this subject by signing Eduardo Salvio, the 19yr old Argentinean from Lanus with striking on-pitch similarities to their star asset. The potential spanner in the works for this deal, as there always is with world class players, is the apparent interest of Manchester United. This rumour though is largely fed by the erroneous posting of a squad profile page for Aguero on the ‘United webpage. Explained as a ‘technical anomaly’ this was widely recognised as a genuine mistake as happened 12 months ago with the posting of a page for AC Milan’s Alexandre Pato. Chelsea fans can be understandably suspicious on this subject bearing in mind the unforgettable bungling of the potential signing of Robinho from Real Madrid by adding the option to buy a named shirt on the clubs megastore website, which ultimately was Madrids excuse for accepting City's bid only. Thankfuly it looks like a bullet dodged.
Aguero’s most likely destination, however, remains Chelsea. The questions surround the players’ contract requirements with his wage demands standing at a point where he would earn more than the clubs current highest bracket players. This of course is in part due to the income tax differential created by the UK’s high earner legislation, with Spain able to offer far more reasonable rates so their clubs can pay less net than an English club yet the player see more. Chelsea’s bargaining position is being increasingly strengthened though by talk of a similar tax bracket in Spain, levelling this competitive edge and seeing current La Liga players re-assessing their position (see David Villa’s recent about turn).
A further advantage to Chelsea is the players’ verbal confirmation of our interest, and his ability to fit our system perfectly. His complimenting our key players only adds fuel to speculation he expects to be eating bacon sandwiches on a cold February morning with them soon enough.
The sticking point on this one is, as said, finance. Athletico have lowered their asking price to a more reasonable level – this is due to elimination from the Champions League and mounting club debts. Their recent acquisition softens the footballing blow of losing Aquero, but they still face backlash from a disillusioned support should they sell their star asset.
Recent developments on this situation stand as thus; Chelsea and Athletico are close to an agreement, the convolution being whether the player moves now or in the summer in a deal similar to that for Johnson. The player is unclear on this subject, as he is by no means an Argentina mainstay he doesn’t want to jeopardise his World Cup position – however these fears are being settled by both the Chelsea and Argentina management teams. The final point is an agreement on salary and transfer fee.
We grade this as now over 50% likely to happen this January, but a lot of work remains.
Keep an eye out from more news from our sources, including a potential loan move for Fabio Borini and the Championship clubs vying for Scott Sinclair’s signature in the summer..