Batshuayi to Spurs delay explained

TRANSFER TALK

Regular readers will know there is a whole lot more to a transfer than simply paying what someone ask, a recipe for financial disaster if ever there was one. It is the responsibility of the buying club to look after their own interests, not someone else's.

To that end, you enter into a game of cat and mouse. Sometimes a deal is easy to reach, but as you move up the levels of player and prices increase then negotiation skills and strategy take over. That is the case with Michy Batshuayi.

The player has made the decision to join Spurs it is reported in Belgium and he is currently away on international duty with Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, and Mousa Dembele. You can be sure the subject has and will be discussed amongst them. The deal has been in place with Batshuayi for a while, with the game of transfer fee agreement is played out.

Marseille has to sell players every season to survive, they have to balance their books by the end of each season in accordance with the Financial Fair Play regulations. The same thing happened last summer, they have to sell players and bring in money by 30 June.

Buying clubs know this so why would they agree on a fee for a player, say, two weeks ago, when they can wait until Marseille are getting desperate and the pressure is on. The price then comes down, it has to, Marseille are desperate for cash, they have no choice but to sell someone.

La Provence (a French daily newspaper published in Marseille) confirmed this on Wednesday. They also remind us that the club has no sporting director, no director and seemingly. no president, they say the club is like a ghost ship at the moment.

They make this claim because president  Vincent Labrune has been travelling Europe offering his players to clubs. He must sell whatever the cost they say. Now if you were in Daniel levy's hands what would you do? Pay the inflated £32.21-million being asked for or let the pressure mount and get your man cheaper, remember reports say Batshuayi has already chosen Tottenham so interest from other clubs isn't much of an issue, indeed Labrune wouldn't be doing his duty if he didn't spread some false rumours to try and suggest to Spurs you might lose him.

Barcelona and Arsenal are interested, so what, he isn't going to sit on a bench and watch 40-goal Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar is he and Arsenal have other targets, namely Janie Vardy who has to decide whether he wants to throw away a guaranteed starting berth in the UEFA Champions League. Move to Arsenal and he will have to prove himself all over again in a different system.

The Marseilles club owner has refused to bail out the club so the austerity measures started last year, when Marseille introduced a salary cap, will be tightened. Marseille must raise 40 million EUR by 30 June. Wouldn't you pile the pressure on and get the price brought down, I would and so would Daniel Levy.

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