No, Chelsea aren’t going to spend £88m on 19-year-old wonderkid from Romania

The international break hasn’t even begun officially, and we’re already getting the usual slate of sh*tposts from all the usual suspects.

There’s Duncan Castles, for example, trotting out his Conte exit story again in the Sunday Times. Castles has been claiming a Conte exit since the spring, if not longer (you know, clash over transfers, etc) — one of these times he will undoubtedly be right since the lifespan of a Chelsea manager, just as the vast majority of all managers in football, is just about 1-3 years. Will that be at the end of the season? It’s possible. The new contract signed in the summer gives both the club and the head coach plenty of flexibility. As ever, the stability at Chelsea is at the director level, not in coaching.

And then there’s the Daily Mail, who bring us this gem about a 19-year-old Romanian “wonderkid” Florinel Coman who supposedly has an £88m release clause and whom Chelsea are supposedly tracking.

Putting all those into a headline (plus an Emenalo flight in the story itself) insinuates that Chelsea are considering the possibility of paying that club-record amount for the kid — and subsequent coverage elsewhere of the Mail’s story plays off that — but I think we can all safely agree, that’s nonsense. Even if Chelsea are interested in the 19-year-old, he cost Steaua £2m this summer. His value isn’t about to increase 44-fold. Decent bit of agenting, but maybe make it more believable next time?

It’s going to be a long two weeks, isn’t it?