. Chelsea FC will be forced to pay A?14m to hijack Toby Alderweireld’s potential Southampton move.
A Clause in A?11m-rated defender’s loan deal means Atletico Madrid must pay Southampton up to A?3m compensation if he moves permanently to any other club driving his price up to A?14m if any deal has to materialize.
Alderwiereld spent the last season on loan at Southampton putting in some impressive displays prompting interest from Chelsea FC as per reports in the Telegraph. As part of the loan agreement, a provisional permanent fee of around A?7 million was negotiated for his potential purchase this summer. With his value clearly having increased after an excellent season in the Premier League, Atletico are hoping to sell the Belgian international to the highest bidder.
Southampton cannot really compete financially or reputation wise with Chelsea FC should the London club do decide to go after the player.
On his potential move, Alderwiereld was quoted saying: a There are three options a stay with Atl tico, stay with Southampton or go to another club. Southampton gave me that opportunity and it paid off, I think. Ia ve had a fantastic year, I cana t lie about that, so, yes, Ia d like to stay in the Premier League.”
Chelsea FC’s pursuit for a defender is well documented with an ageing central defensive partnership of Cahill and Terry and left back Filipe Luis failing to settle in London.
Chelsea FC are pursuing another defender at Atletico Madrid in Joao Miranda who could be available for cut price deal with only a year to run to his contract and Chelsea FC are locked in a battle with Manchester United for the Brazil international defender.
A comparison between the trio reveals just why Alderwiereld is so sought after. Alderwiereld has made no defensive error in the entire season and at 1.39 tackles per 90 minutes, comfortably outdoes Gary Cahill.
Cahill clearly has the edge aerially and is known for being very good on the ball as is represented by the 86% pass success rate, but, Alderwiereld is not too bad as the stats reveal.
Miranda, who can be bought for around 10 million pounds, does not appear to be a bad option considering despite an injury interrupted season he is more than competent in multiple attributes as the highest in interception.
Granted that he will be costlier than Miranda, but, Alderwiereld is young in comparison to both Cahill and Miranda and unlike Miranda is proven in the Premier League. Chelsea FC will surely not mind paying the 14 million pound fee for the Belgian.
The move is very much likely given that Atletico are willing to sell, and Chelsea FC need to buy a defender.