Should Chelsea have accepted Barcelona's 'Malcom plus cash' offer for Willian?
Reports coming in from top sources have suggested that Chelsea have rejected Barcelona's offer of €60m plus Malcom for Willian. Barcelona were interested in signing Willian last summer before they settled with a €38m move for Malcom.
Malcom has struggled since joining the Catalan giants, which has in turn affected his game time and the 21-year-old winger is also supposedly looking for a move away from Barcelona.
The Spanish giants were hopeful that Malcom would settle in at the club but have now run out of patience with the player. They have gone back to their previous transfer target Willian.
Both clubs were involved in a discussion regarding the Brazil international's move to Camp Nou last summer. However, the Blues were not happy with Barcelona's transfer valuation of Willian and the deal gradually collapsed. Barcelona then went ahead with Malcom.
Blaugrana's renewed interest in the Chelsea star has made them offer Malcom plus €60m to Chelsea, who have rejected it. However, considering the current circumstances, it would have been wise if Chelsea had considered the offer.
Willian is in his 30's and has not been in the best of form under new manager Maurizio Sarri. Unlike the previous season, Willian has been involved in lesser goals this year which seen Chelsea become the team with the least number of goals among the 'big six'. Moreover, Willian has just 18 months left on his contract.
On the other hand, Malcom is still young and has huge expectations surrounding him. He already has a €38m transfer fee around him and he would have been a suitable replacement for the ageing and under-performing Blues winger.
€60m is a great value for a player like Willian, who is in the final stages of his prime and the current contract at Chelsea. The cash could have also been utilized to sign another player as well.
Moreover, Chelsea have recently signed Christian Pulisic, who will probably further reduce the game time of Willian.
Hence, it would have been a transfer coup had Chelsea accepted this offer as it could have helped them financially to pose a Premier League challenge again next season.