Chelsea can beat Barcelona to the ‘next Lionel Messi’ and save £4.5m on transfer if they act quick

Chelsea might have to take a new route to land Claudio Echeverri from River Plate

Argentina prodigy Claudio Echeverri, dubbed the “next Leo Messi”, is under the scope for Chelsea ahead of the January transfer window. It might come off as s surprise for many as Chelsea haven’t shied away from splashing cash. The Blues have spent close to £1billion over the past few seasons.

The young attacking midfielder’s position and nationality earn him comparison to his national team skipper, Lionel Messi. Per Football.london (h/t Fabrizio Romano), Chelsea have joined the race alongside Barcelona and Manchester City to land Echeverri’s signature.

Barcelona’s Financial Fair Play Restrictions mean, the EPL giants have better chances of landing the 17-year-old midfielder. Chelsea is just piling up options and adding the River Plate star to an already crowded midfield roster does not make sense.

However, Mauricio Pochettino seems to be on a mission to strengthen his squad in whatever way possible. He already has prominent names like Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher, Christopher Nkunku, Cole Palmer, and Leo Castledine in the mix. Recruiting an unproven youngster is nothing short of a risky move.

Chelsea will have to adjust their strategy to bring in Echeverri

Chelsea evaded the question around their spending by working out through their accounts and long-term contracts called as amortisation. In this process, the cost of a player in the balance sheet is turned from outgoing money into the player’s value on their current deal in the financial books. This value is then depreciated over the years of their contract.

This means, a longer deal will have more time for that value to be lost and impact less each year for the extravagant spend. However, this strategy will be ineffective with the Premier League clubs voting to cap amortisation to five-years, that draws them level with UEFA rules.

The change in rule means Chelsea will have to be careful the way they spend money to avoid the same fate as Everton’s. On the other hand, the Blues might have to act fast to save money. Claudio Echeverri’s release clause is said to be £21.5 million, which will increase to £26 million in the final days of the transfer window.

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Pochettino will have to work faster with the management if he wishes to bring the River Plate starlet to Stamford Bridge. Where he fits and how he does that, is something that only time can tell.