PREMIER,CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUOTAS LEAVE MOURINHO DESPERATE TO SELL TORRES AFTER HORRENDOUS DISPLAY One of the worst transfers in soccer history has gone from luxury to albatross for Chelsea, who will face a dilemma if they can’t offload Fernando Torres. If the Spanish striker can’t be sold this summer, manager José Mourinho may end up over his non-homegrown player quotas, forcing the Blues to leave the Spanish international unregistered or sell one of their other stars. According to The Telegraph, the situation may force Chelsea’s hand regarding Petr Cech, who could be expendable with the return of Thibaut Courtois. Whether it’s him, John Obi Mikel, or Torres, the Blues need to sell a non-homegrown player for their first team quote to adhere to Premier and Champions League limits. Through Mourinho wants to keep both goalkeepers, the lack of a market for either Torres or Mikel may force Chelsea to consider Paris Saint-Germain’s offer for Cech. Jose Mourinho has admitted that he will have to get rid of one of his foreign players as Chelsea desperately try to find a buyer for Fernando Torres … Clubs can only name 17 foreign players over the age of 21 in their official 25-man squads and Chelsea have 18 overseas stars who are realistically vying for those places. Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, wants to offload £50 million flop Torres, but clubs are being put off by the £20 million asking price and the Spaniard’s £175,000-a-week wages. And that’s the problem. Even if Chelsea was willing to give Torres away, the striker’s ridiculous wage package means most teams wouldn’t be interested. Atlético Madrid, having a special history with the player, as well as free-spending Monaco are reportedly options, but Atleti will need a major financial compromise to bring back one of their favorite sons. Monaco’s only interest is as a backup plan should Radamel Falcao depart. “From the group you are expecting us to have as a squad, I have to send one away because we have one extra foreign player,” Mourinho explained “So from all these players, if you think all of them have to stay, you are wrong. One of them has to go.” Perhaps. Chelsea can also just shelve Torres. Just because you have a player doesn’t mean you have to register him, and while it seems ridiculous to take a player that’s making around $15 million per year and let him collect dust, it would be even more inane to chase a mistake with a mistake. Why get rid of a useful player just because you’re unwilling to leave Torres out? It’s unlikely to come to that, though. At some point, Chelsea can just give another club enough money to make Torres go away. Or, they can take Paris Saint-Germain’s $17 million, give them Petr Cech, and forget this opulent fantasy of a keeping both the Cech and Courtois. That it’s come to this, however, is yet another reminder: Committing over $160 million to Torres — over $80 million in wages on top of the $80 million fee — is one of the worst personnel decisions in soccer history. On a financial level, Chelsea has the means to absorb the cost. Unfortunately for the Blues, England and Europe’s rules are less forgiving.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 04:01:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015