Batshuayi £19.63-million

TRANSFER TALK


There are further reports from Italy that Juventus are planning potential scenarios if Morata is bought back by Real Madrid by 15 July, the cut-off date for his buy-back clauses. Juventus do not ant to lose him and he does not want to leave.

This is the problem with buy-back clauses, if a player increases in value, you have to sell at a fixed price and all you have done is increase the value of a player for another clubs benefit. You then have to start again and find another player to replace them. Far better to have control of your own destiny than put it in another clubs hands. Tottenham do not entertain buy-back clauses when buying players for this reason. You can't plan a future if you don't have control over your future.

One name on the radar of Juventus is the Tottenham target who has rejected Chelsea and West Ham United, Michy Batshuayi. Juventus have a problem though, Marseille needs him sold by 30 June, Juventus may not know whether Real Madrid are going to buy until 15 July. They are in discussions to try and nail down the position, they had a meeting last week and there will be more planned. Juventus really need to resolve the issue, if they wanted Bayshuayi well before 30 June.

Marseille need £31.41-million (EUR40m - AUS$61 - US$45.1m) by the end of the month from player sales, they don't have that many assets to sell, Lassana Diarra has it written into his contract that he can leave for free at any time, so even the name they have can't be sold to raise cash. Juventus would only be willing to go to £19.63-million (EUR25m - AUS$38.12m - US$28.19m).

Buying clubs generally tend to value a player similarly, so it is not unreasonable to expect that we value him roughly the same and are thus looking to acquire him before the 30 June deadline for no more than £20-million (EUR25.47m - AUS$38.84 - US$28.72m). I fully expect his services to be engaged nearer that figure than the marseille valuation, which looks to be solely in place to clear a debt as opposed to a valuation of a player.

Marseille has to submit figures and if they have not raised the money they need they could be relegated, which would only make their financial plight worse. The pressure is on them to come to a deal, there is no pressure on us to pay more than we feel we should.

Juventus are interested but they may not even be an issue.