Stuttgart are finalising a deal that sends Chema Andres to Brighton for 23 million euros, according to reports in Germany.
According to Florian Plettenberg, Chema will join Brighton imminently after the Seagulls moved rapidly for the player in the last day of the transfer window. Real Madrid, as a result, will gain 50% of the transfer fee that Brighton will pay, which would be around 11.5 million euros.
The worst part is not the money they will receive - although that, in itself, is a really, really bad deal from a monetary sense - it is the fact that Real Madrid would lose all control of the player's future, and that is bad.
Chema has always been touted as a future defensive midfielder for Real Madrid. It may not have happened, but his rapid rise last season showed that there was a Rodri replacement in the academy, and all he needs to do is improve gradually, doing which could eventually give him a chance to sit at the base of Real Madrid's midfield.
Chema is not ready right now, but he will be in the future
Nothing is set in stone in football, but Real Madrid spent so long chasing Rodri in the transfer window because the club knew that a profile like that was needed, also happens to have a carbon copy of that same player, who could join them for dirt cheap.
Obviously, right now, Chema is not ready. He still needs to spend a couple of years playing for another club. But maybe then, he could have been. If Real Madrid had a control over the player's future at that point, where he was already good, they could have acted on it and brought him in.
Now, even if Real Madrid inevitably realise a controller is needed, and Chema happens to be playing at a very high level, Real Madrid would have to pay so much more to gain his services.
Premier League tax always takes a player's value up to the brim, and if Chema has a good time in the country, which is easily possible, Real Madrid would either end up paying a fortune, or not consider him at all.
Real Madrid could have stepped in. Stuttgart had placed a release clause in Chema's contract. They could've stepped in to re-negotiate terms with any interested team, and tried to find a solution. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but it just does not seem like it is the best idea to let one of their brightest prospects in quite some time leave when he could one day help you out.
Add us as a preferred source on Google