Even if you don’t agree with their practice of stockpiling players, it’s hard to argue that Chelsea aren’t well run and they know how to structure their contracts to protect themselves.
Brazilian forward Lucas Piazon was highly touted when he moved to Stamford Bridge in 2012, but he’s now 26 years old and he was spending the season with Portuguese side Rio Ave in what was his 7th separate loan spell.
It looked like his contract was up at the end of the season so he would finally get to leave and look to establish himself somewhere, but now it appears that Chelsea will have the last word as they look to salvage some kind of fee for him:
Lucas Piazon’s loan with Rio Ave is being terminated ahead of a sale.
He has only six months left on his contract but Chelsea have an option for an extra year to ensure he doesn’t leave for free.
There’s three clubs in for him but the ultimate destination is unclear. #CFC
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) January 6, 2021
You have to presume that he has no further say in that option to extend the deal because it doesn’t make sense from his point of view to agree to that, but it does look like he’ll have his pick of three clubs if they all meet Chelsea’s demands.
He’s still at an age where he has his prime years in front of him so there’s plenty of time to kick-start his career, but it will be interesting to see how much money Chelsea actually get from selling him on.