Attempting to offload Tiemoué Bakayoko over the summer, Chelsea thought they’d hit the jackpot when Milan, where he had previously played, appeared keen to do a deal.
However, the Serie A club weren’t interested in paying money up front, but preferred the idea of once again loaning the defensive midfielder and optionally paying a fee at a later date.
Chelsea were open to a loan, but wanted the purchase option to be mandatory, which put Milan off somewhat, and when a window opened for them to get Sandro Tonali from Brescia, they turned their attention to and focused their efforts on the young Italian instead.
That left Bakayoko with nowhere to go until his former manager from his time at San Siro, Gennaro Gattuso, came to the rescue and convinced Aurelio de Laurentiis to get the Frenchman on a dry loan for the season.
He’s started well there, quickly becoming an integral part of Napoli’s plans, which has led to rumours circling of a gentleman’s agreement of €18m already being in place and the Italian club considering making a move later on in 2021.
According to Stefano Agresti, the director of Calciomercato.com, however, it won’t be that simple, as he explained to Radio CRC during the program Sogno Nel Cuore, relayed by Il Napoli Online.
He said: “Bakayoko still in Naples next year? This also won’t be an easy negotiation; we lived it directly through Milan because Chelsea didn’t want to lower their claims, which was then exploited by Napoli. The English club, when it sells a player, wants to be satisfied from an economic point of view”.
Considering Chelsea spent £36m to get the midfielder from AS Monaco in the first place, they’ll be looking to get a good chunk of that back next summer, even if he’ll only have one year left on his contract by that point.
That being said, if he continues the way he started, it shouldn’t be too difficult for them.
