If Chelsea really want to pay for Victor Lindelof’s release clause, they should do it quickly. Benfica are now planning to give the defender a new contract to protect him from the Blues’ approaches.
As Antonio Conte’s side still haven’t made the bid official, the Portuguese club president Luis Filipe Vieira intends to give the player a new deal as soon as possible, according to Friday’s edition of Portuguese newspaper Record.
Lindelof’s contract currently has a €30m release clause, which Benfica reportedly want to raise to at least €45m.
This week, Record had already reported some weird claims about Benfica’s tricks to keep Lindelof. That would happen by forcing the defender to pay for the clause himself, in a story we’ve covered here.
Now the newspaper insist on those claims, meaning that Benfica will literally do everything they can to stop Lindelof from leaving them.
Funny thing is that Lindelof isn’t even a major star in the squad. He still needs to fight for his place if he wants to be a regular starter, despite the good season he had in 2015/16.
This sounds very much like either the club or player using Chelsea to help their own aims.
