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Update: Other media outlets in Portugal are reporting that the Pereira deal is for less money than the full buyout clause. €22M would be far more appealing (but still not great).
Well this is odd news. Portuguese news outlet A Bola - whom we've been dealing with a lot over the past year and are generally reliable - have run with the news that Chelsea are about to get their man in Urguayan wingback Alvaro Pereira. By paying his buyout clause:
A saída de Álvaro Pereira estará na iminência de receber a necessária confirmação oficial, com o Chelsea preparado para receber o internacional uruguaio e a depositar na conta da SAD portista uma verba aproximada aos 30 milhões de euros previstos na cláusula de rescisão do contrato entre o futebolista e os dragões.
-Source: A Bola.
Some Google Translating later...
Which is.. well, it's something, I guess. I'm still not sure why Chelsea would need Pereira, but nobody doubts that he's a fine player (Pereira is profiled here). However €30M is so over the top for him that I'm just not sure what I can possibly say about it. Chelsea have been linked to two types of transfer this summer - the first for excellent young players who are coming in relatively cheaply and the second for superstar midfielders who would break the bank.
This would be a third type of signing. Pereira isn't particularly young and he's definitely not cheap, nor is he a superstar in a position of great need for the club. In that light, I don't get this move at all, and am really hoping that A Bola is wrong. Please, please, please be wrong. I don't think I would be in a happy place if insane money is shelled out in a way that doesn't improve the midfield passing. At least overpaying for Javier Pastore or Luka Modric would have led to a huge difference in the way Chelsea play...