While it’s important for a club to stick to a valuation of their player, it can come back to haunt them if they are stuck with someone who simply doesn’t play.
Chelsea finally managed to sign Ben Chilwell this week while fellow addition Malang Sarr can also play at left back when needed, so the futures of Emerson Palmieri and Marcos Alonso are up in the air.
The Italian has barely played so Chelsea should be looking to offload him, but it appeared that their demands of €25m were too much for Inter Milan to pay.
READ MORE: How Chelsea would line up next season if they complete £140m double swoop to address key positions
At least there was still some hope that a compromise could be found, but that now looks impossible after it’s been confirmed that Inter are about to sign former Man City defender Aleksandar Kolarov instead:
Inter have opened talks with AS Roma to sign Aleksandar Kolarov. Antonio Conte wants him again as left back. Chelsea are still asking €25M to sell Emerson Palmieri and Inter won’t spend this money. ? @SkySport @DiMarzio #inter #transfers
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 27, 2020
Aleksandar Kolarov to Inter is now here-we-go. Agreement ready to be completed on next hours with AS Roma – final fee around €2M. Conte will have the left back he asked for. ??? @SkySport #Inter #Roma
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 28, 2020
Kolarov will turn 35 later this year so this isn’t a long term solution for Inter, but he’s been brilliant for Roma and the transfer fee is much lower than what Chelsea wanted for Emerson, so it could be a good move for them.
Chelsea now have a real issue where there’s no sign that anybody else is interested in Emerson or Marcos Alonso so they have no leverage in any negotiations, so they may end up taking a very low fee or being stuck with both players until January at least.