‘I told Boehly I won't sell’ - Chelsea transfer saga takes another twist

Tom Weber

Updated: 8 Dec 2023 06:55 GMT
3 min read

There has been yet another twist in the Gabriel Moscardo transfer saga.

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The Brazilian wonderkid is one of South America's most sought-after commodities. A defensive midfielder, Moscardo has been eyed by Europe's elite for some time, chiefly Chelsea and PSG.

The Blues already made an offer for the youngster in the summer and were once again in the mix for him in November, with Brazilian media going so far as to claim that an agreement between Chelsea and Corinthians for his transfer has been reached. However, these reports did not turn out to be true and the Premier League giants had in fact not made any fresh move to acquire the youngster.

Instead, PSG burst into the race to sign him and made swift progress, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano. Rather than him being a done deal for Chelsea, it appeared that Moscardo would quickly become a done deal for the reigning Ligue 1 champions, but now those talks have also hit a major roadblock.

New Corinthians president

That is because the Brazilian side are in the midst of a transfer of power with Augusto Melo taking over the presidency of Duilio Monteiro in January and the new boss has no intention to sell Moscardo for the kind of money currently on offer, which is said to be between €20 million and €30m.

“I’m not a salesman," Melo told Radio Bandeirantes. "Our player, trained at home, will be our third-most-expensive sale at least. He's an 18-year-old boy, he's growing, he's gaining weight now. He will mature further so that we can sell him for three or four times more than he is worth. We have to sell well again on the market."

Regarding Chelsea's interest in the youngster, Melo said: “I made it clear, I joked with him [Chelsea owner Todd Boehly], I told him I wouldn’t sell. I will never sell for what they offer. He is [worth] more than €40m at least."