Chelsea ‘in no hurry’ to sign Kovačić, looking to negotiate better price than €50m — report

Real Madrid tried very hard to include Mateo Kovačić in the the Eden Hazard negotiations, but Chelsea stood firm on keeping those two potential deals separate and eventually managed to squeeze the Galacticos for €100m plus mostly “easily achievable” add-ons of €30m or more. As it stands, Hazard is the ninth biggest transfer deal of all time despite exiting with just a single year left on his Chelsea contract, and it could get bigger.

So, one deal down. How about the other one?

As Friday’s report from AS details, having finalized the Hazard transaction, Chelsea are “in no hurry” to jump back in the negotiating waters with Real Madrid, who are “expecting” to receive at least €50m for a player they do not want back and who doesn’t want to go back.

It would appear that just as with Hazard, we’re willing to take a risk and make Real sweat a bit. Recent reports put Kovačić’s price tag at €35m, which may be the amount that we’re looking to negotiate instead.

While Inter Milan have also expressed interest in the 25-year-old, Chelsea appear to have the inside track. For now.

There is however a hard deadline for Chelsea to meet. We can only sign Kovačić before his loan officially expires at the end of June. After that, his registration goes back to Real Madrid, at which point the transfer ban (assuming it stays) would prevent us from reacquiring it. Real undoubtedly know this as well, which gives them leverage. But with the player described in multiple reports as a “problem” that Madrid need to solve by selling, that leverage may not be very strong.

And so, the game’s afoot once again. Do your thing, MG.