Dzeko offer revealed as Chelsea ready to break with long-standing contract policy — reports

Talks between Chelsea, Roma, and Edin Dzeko continue tonight as the Blues negotiate a fee, wages, and contract length for a potential transfer involving the 31-year-old Ballon d’Or nominee.

Most rumours have Roma wanting €50 million plus €10 million in add-ons for both Dzeko and Emerson, with the left-back taking half of that sum in a transfer that’s expected to close on Thursday.

The other half remains less clear, especially consdiering Dzeko’s advancing age. Chelsea have a long-standing policy of not signing players over 30 to contracts longer than 1-1.5 years, but are apparently considering breaking that in order to get the Dzeko signing over the line.

According to the London Evening Standard, Chelsea are offering a 3.5-year deal (through 2021) at around £100,000 in weekly wages. The deal would be hit the FFP books at a minimum of £11m/year in amortized costs, putting Dzeko on par with most of Chelsea’s recent signings in terms of FFP impact. Of course Dzeko would be older than most of those players, which could become a problem later on beyond just the principle of breaking a club rule that we wouldn’t break for the likes of Terry and Lampard not that long ago — and also putting the club into an awkward position when it comes time for contract renewals of other players over 30.

As far as all the fuss over Dzeko being filmed with luggage ... guess what? It was a whole lot of nothing! (Shocking, we know.) In fact, Roma manager Eusebio di Francesco is ready to start him in tomorrow’s match against Sampdoria, with the ultimate decision hanging on whether the striker is able to keep his focus on the pitch.