Shakhtar boss sets increased asking price for Chelsea target Alex Teixeira

Shakhtar Donetsk's free-scoring sensation Alex Teixeira is a hotly rumored transfer target for Chelsea, and I'm sure many other big clubs as well.  At latest check, the 25-year-old is up to 22 goals in the league (26 in 25 appearances in all competitions), creating basically a name-your-own price situation for the Ukranian league leaders.

That price was previously rumored to be in the £30m (€40m) range — with several suitors lining up and submitting bids — but it would appear that his manager rates him a fair bit higher than that.

"Alex is now worth more than 40 million. I think at the end of the season - were [he] to continue with this performance - his value is 50 million euro. If [he] were playing in a league more competitive, [his] transfer would be at the same level as that of Di Maria."

-Mircea Lucescu; source: TuttoMercatoWeb via Google Translate

Well, obviously, if he had 22 goals in 15 Premier League appearances, his price would certainly be higher than if he had 22 goals in the Ukrainian league.  That's a given.  But maybe Di Maria isn't the best comparison, given his not so happy season at Manchester United.

In any case, Teixeira's asking price seems to have just gone up a cool 25%.  Considering that Shakhtar don't really want to sell him in January, at least we have time to save up for the bidding war.