Fabrizio Romano breaks down €65m deal; interesting detail about loan added | OneFootball

The Willian Estevao deal felt like it was all but wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, but there’s been little new since.

Today Fabrizio Romano has stoked the flames again by Tweeting out the details of the breakdown of the €65m transfer.

He says that €40m of the total fee will be paid up front as a “fixed fee.” The next €20m comes in the form of “easy add ons,” likely simple things like appearance milestones which Estevao can be expected to reach as long as he becomes a regular in the first team. The final €5m are the “difficult extra add ons,” which we would imagine are more like bonuses for winning trophies and so on.

The “initial medical tests” have already been completed and Willian will sign a contract until 2032.

Also notable is the fact that Romano says the winger will be “straight to first team” when he signs, indicating there won’t be any loans or other stepping stone period.

A risky deal for a potential superstar

Interestingly, unlike some deals we’ve see where the final figure creeps higher and higher through the summer, this final fee of €65m is remarkably close to what was being quoted right at the very start of the saga. It seems that Chelsea appreciated what Palmeiras were demanding and decided to just pay it without engaging in too much back and forth.

This is likely because they’re so convinced of his ability, and didn’t want other teams to beat them to the punch if they got bogged down negotiating.

For all his obvious talent and potential, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that this is an insane sum to pay for a player so inexperienced, and a major risk. If it pays off, everyone will be delighted, if it doesn’t, some people will be left looking very foolish.