Paul Merson says it’s ‘dangerous’ from Chelsea that they are possibly going to pay over £100 million for Liverpool transfer target Enzo Fernandez in January.
The Argentina World Cup winner is in high demand by Premier League teams, with suggestions that Graham Potter could make the Benfica star his first signing for a fee worth £112 million.
That would be bad news for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool because they are also keen on adding the 21-year-old to their ranks, and after their defeat to Brentford on Monday in the Premier League, then it’s obvious why.
In terms of quality, investment and what he can do in the long-term, it is worth pushing for Fernandez’s talents.
But could there be extra hype on Fernandez because of what happened in Qatar? Well, Merson certainly feels that’s a tricky rope to walk down, as he told Soccer Special on Sky Sports.
“Well, that would have to be paid in instalments, in my opinion,” said Merson. “To pay that £100 million upfront, the way that the rules are.
“I think they could end up paying more for him, but paying it over a staggering time.
“He’s a good player, but it’s dangerous to pay £100 million for a player on the back of the World Cup. You have e to remember, he was playing with the best player in the world.
“I think it’s a hard one. This is the hardest league in the world. £100 million is a lot of money, even though he’s a good player. I wouldn’t mind if they had their eye on him three months ago when he was playing for Benfica, then you go ‘we missed a trick and we should have got him before’, then I understand. If you are buying him off the back of a World Cup, then you are thinking this is a bit shotgun-ish.”
LIVERPOOL AND CHELSEA SHOULD STAY CLEAR OF FERNANDEZ
If Chelsea haven’t learnt much from the summer, then they should go ahead and pay the big, big bucks for Fernandez.
Yes, quality players are needed, but not for inflated prices and it seems as though they are going to do that with the Argentina star.
There are much better fish to fry in the January market, better value-for-money signings, but World Cup tax and hype can’t be matched.
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