Including an option to buy in any loan deal always seems like a bad idea for the parent club.
If the player does well and his value soars then they will miss out financially, while a poor run of form just means they will have no choice but to accept a lower fee anyway.
Chelsea are well known for stockpiling players to eventually sell for a profit, but it sounds like they might have made a huge error when it comes to Mario Pasalic.
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The midfielder has been a star for Atalanta this season, and a report from Football Italia has claimed the Italian side are expected to activate the €15m clause in the loan deal to sign him permanently.
The big problem for Chelsea is that they could also decide to sell him on immediately, and it’s expected he could be worth up to €30m on the open market.
Realistically he was unlikely to force his way into Frank Lampard’s side, but with the current financial situation hitting clubs then it will be tough for them to justify such a bad piece of business.
The permanent move to Atalanta hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it looks like it will happen.