In today’s age, the power in the market is in the hands of the top stars and their superagents. Now surely clubs can still get away with it on some occasions, but their era of pure dominance is gone.
Nowadays a club can spend a fortune on a player, only to see him walk away for free after a few years.
Therefore, it is better for a club to anticipate such a scenario by selling its prized asset once it senses danger.
That is exactly what Juventus managed to do last summer by getting rid of Matthijs de Ligt when Bayern Munich stepped forward with a tempting offer in hand.
On the other hand, Inter made a mess with the transfer of Milan Skriniar to PSG. The Ligue 1 champions were offering around €60m for the Slovakian, whose contract is due to expire at the end of the season.
As Massimo Pavan explains in his column on TuttoJuve, the Nerazzurri may have to accept an offer of around 25-30 million in January in order not to lose their defense for free in the summer.
Juve FC says
It was always evident from de Ligt’s statements that he would not stay in Turin for long. So the decision to sell it while its price is high was a wise one for the Bianconeri.
On the other hand, Inter expected a higher offer for Skriniar, although 60 million should have been more than enough.
To add insult to injury, the sale of De Ligt allowed Juventus to overtake Inter in the race for Gleison Bremer.
