How Kovacic went from £80m-rated to loanee this summer

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Thibaut Courtois’ Chelsea departure to join Real Madrid was on the cards all summer. But it looks set to finally be completed at around midday today.

With the Belgian even missing training to force through his move, Chelsea’s hopes of salvaging a respectable end of the bargain looked bleak.

However, World Cup finalist Mateo Kovacic will now be involved in the deal. He will move the other way on a season-long loan – which represents an outstanding coup.

£80m Quoted Price

Not least because, last month Real Madrid reportedly quoted Manchester City £80m to land the Croatian.

That seems steep, but Real Madrid is exceptionally good at bumping the value of even their unwanted players.

On top of that, Kovacic just enjoyed a strong World Cup and as the Harry Maguire saga proves, performing well on the biggest stage of all can push a player’s transfer value through the roof.

All of that considered, getting Kovacic on a loan deal, represents a very solid piece of business from Chelsea.

Certainly, Maurizio Sarri wants to introduce a more technical style of play at Stamford Bridge; he just can’t do that without a different profile of player.

With Kovacic and Jorginho, Sarri has given himself that and hasn’t broken the bank completely.

With their backs against the wall, Chelsea has got an outstanding deal on Kovacic.