Exclusive: Chelsea end talks with £65m star because of serious demands | OneFootball

Chelsea have made some decisive moves in the transfer market already this summer, but that’s not stopping them being linked with new targets too.

There was quite a lot of talk about Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze over the weekend, but today our writer Simon Phillips has revealed some information about the winger’s demands which explain why it’s not likely to happen.

Eze move likely off due to large demands

Eberechi Eze celebrates FA Cup win. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

“Last week, we reported the exclusive story that Chelsea had approached the agents of Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace to see whether a move was feasible on the players side and explore any terms of the deal,” Phillips wrote on his Substack yesterday morning.

“Chelsea spoke with Eze’s agents but he wants ‘quite a big wage’ package which surprised Chelsea and put them off a bit. Also, on the club side, Chelsea have heard that his release clause needs to be paid in one package and the club do not see any real value in doing that for a player in his late 20s.

“They do really appreciate the quality of the player though, hence why they made the approach to find out the fundamentals. The interest remains, but any Chelsea move for Eze is now looking unlikely.”

Terms of deal mean Chelsea were never likely candidates

These quotes really back up the assumptions we made before we even had this information about Eze’s demands. Chelsea will be willing to break their soft rule about older players in certain circumstances, but this was never going to be one of them. Eze is 27, at the the peak of his transfer value and wage demands. No matter how much they like him as a player, the club were never going to lock themselves in to a losing proposition like that.