Chelsea ace Willian, who Liverpool once tried to sign ourselves of course, has explained the difficulties of doing business with Shakhtar Donetsk – something he experienced first hand.
Like Alex Teixeira, he was linked with a number of big European clubs but Shakhtar would only let him move to a very rich but small club – in Willian’s case: Anzhi Makhachkala.
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Very soon afterwards Chelsea bought him from the Russians, but it was interesting to see Shakhtar wouldn’t be swayed by a player’s desire to leave and simply demanded more money – holding out for a big bid from Anzhi back in 2013.
This January, Teixeira experienced the same thing. Liverpool bid for him, the player was desperate to move, but Shakhtar wouldn’t budge – eventually only accepting an offer of £38m from Chinese nobodies Jiangsu Suning.
“They prefer to sell to small clubs that can afford a higher fee than selling them to traditional clubs that wouldn’t pay the same amount of money,” Willian told Squawka, reported by the Express.
“That’s the case for Teixeira, and it has also happened with me.
“I know myself how difficult it is to negotiate with Shakhtar Donetsk. I suffered for two years there willing to leave the club.
“I wish him all the best in China,” Willian added.
“I’m sure that the financial aspect was crucial for his decision.
“He’s a very good player and could easily adapt to English football. I’d personally be happy if he’d come to the Premier League or even to another big European club. As it would increases his chances to play for Selecao.”
Actually, despite the fact it meant Liverpool missing out on the Brazilian playmaker a few weeks back, we can understand Shakhtar’s policy.
They brought the player over from South America and developed him into a star. Surely they are within their right to make as bigger profit as possible?
Put it this way: if a Chinese club had offered £100m for Raheem Sterling, who openly wanted to move elsewhere – it wouldn’t have bothered Liverpool fans one iota if we refused all offers except the largest one.
Besides, there’ll be plenty more, hopefully bigger fish in contention this summer.