Liverpool may have to reconsider their potential transfer of Jude Bellingham due to a £502 million issue that has arisen.
Enzo Fernandez’s deal to Chelsea will impact Liverpool’s summer transfer market.
Chelsea’s transfer chase for Enzo Fernandez on Tuesday, late in January, will undoubtedly have repercussions for Liverpool’s summer spending.
Chelsea has spent almost £550 million on 17 players since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over the club in May of last year. Eight of those players arrived in January, when Chelsea spent more than La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga put together.
The signing of Fernandez, who won the World Cup with Argentina in December, was a win for patience, but more so for the tenacity of selling club Benfica. The Portuguese club remained certain that Fernandez would not go for less than his €120 million (£105 million) buyout clause. In the end, Chelsea yielded to their demands, and Benfica sold a player for £95 million more than they bought for him last summer.
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Friday night’s 0-0 home draw with Fulham was Fernandez’s debut for Chelsea, but it will take some time to determine whether the £105 million paid, a British transfer record, was money well spent.
Many Reds supporters were angered by Liverpool’s lack of activity in January. The signing of Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven for £37 million when the transfer window opened was the lone transaction completed by the Reds.
Owners Fenway Sports Group, who are actively seeking to bring in fresh investment through an equity sale but remain open to a full sale, are likely to have to dig deeper and commit more to transfer spending than they have ever done before, given the importance of a significant rebuilding of the squad, particularly in midfield, this summer.
Jude Bellingham remains at the top of Liverpool’s recruiting list. Their inaction in January has only increased their need to sign the 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund and England midfielder, but with Real Madrid and others interested, it is a game of risk, especially if Liverpool’s stuttering season continues and they fail to qualify for next season’s lucrative Champions League.
In acquiring Fernandez, a player linked to Liverpool, Chelsea has at least told the Reds where they need to be in the upcoming offseason.
Dortmund likely followed the Fernandez deal with keen interest. The World Cup accomplishments of a player two years older than Bellingham but with less experience at the highest level of club football influenced his price tag and Chelsea’s willingness to fulfill it. To acquire Bellingham, Liverpool would very probably need to shatter the British transfer record once more, and it’s difficult to imagine anything less than £120 million.
As is the case with the valuation of football clubs itself, the transfer of players is heavily influenced by the previous transaction. Chelsea, who played the long game with their transfer spree by spreading the impact on their accounts by amortising the cost of transfers over longer periods of seven and eight year contracts, have set a new standard for clubs in the market, which has likely arrived at the worst possible time for FSG given their need to spend significantly this summer. The opportunity to negotiate deals at a discount is dwindling, and the value that once existed in places such as Portugal is now more difficult to locate.
Dortmund will be encouraged to maintain their stance on Bellingham and take advantage of the bidding war that will surely erupt for his services in the summer, barring a pre-contract deal.
At least Liverpool will be aware that they will be held accountable for any such transaction. Uncertainty exists as to whether there is a willingness to go as far as necessary to land their number one goal.
