Brentford thought they’d got Mykhaylo Mudryk lined up for just £20million last summer - only for agent demands to scupper the deal.
That was the fee his old club Shakhtar Donetsk were willing to let him go for just six months ago. Yet, they will now be delighted the Bees’ bid to take the winger fell apart after Chelsea agreed to pay them three times that amount up front and almost four-and-a-half times that amount in total.
Mudryk is costing the Blues £62m now and, with performance-related add-ons, a whopping £87m all in. It is an extraordinary piece of business from both sides.
However, if Mudryk is the player well-respected football figures think he is then even at almost £90m he could well prove a snip. The Ukraine international signed an eight-and-a-half year deal at Stamford Bridge as he completed his move to the Premier League last week.
Arsenal had also bid for the 22-year-old and, several times, he made clear on his social media pages that he wanted to join the Gunners.
But Chelsea’s late move blew them out of the water with chairman Todd Boehly continuing to back under-siege boss Graham Potter in the transfer market.
Have Chelsea overpaid for Mudryk? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section
In this transfer window, Brentford keeper David Raya has been linked with a switch across London to Tottenham - with Hugo Lloris' time in north London coming to an end. Raya is out of contract next summer, with the Bees keen to keep him for longer.
"I understand why they are interested. He is a very, very good keeper," said Frank earlier this week. "I said many times I think he is among the best in the league and he has performed fantastic for us, but he is going nowhere."
"Let's see [if he signs a new contract]. We are interested. I know David is very happy here, but there will be ongoing discussions of course."
Brentford have not lost a league game since October and have won their last three in the competition. They are now above Liverpool in the table. No wonder fans were singing “we’re all going on a European tour" during their victory over Bournemouth at the weekend.
Defender Ben Mee said: “We just want to win games, we’re on a great run at the minute and fans can enjoy the position we’re in. We want to keep on and do well. There is an opportunity to finish higher up.
“I feel like teams are faltering and we need to take advantage of that. We can be one of the teams who do that. We expect to win games like this.”
