Chelsea FC must sell Oscar for record-setting fee
By Tarek Hisham
Chelsea FC midfielder Oscar is the subject of some big money transfer rumors and the Blues must capitalize on the potential offer.
In this era of record-setting transfer fees it is usually Chelsea FC that does the record-breaking with their purchases of stars such as Fernando Torres or Diego Costa. In this particular instance however, the Blues could potentially set a club record of a received transfer fee for one of their players.
Brazilian midfielder Oscar has been a largely forgotten man under new manager Antonio Conte but he has reportedly been eyed by former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas who is currently managing Chinese club Shanghai SIPG.
Villas-Boas, or AVB as he is often called, has taken the strange managerial journey to China from the Premier League and is looking to spend some of that new Chinese money on a young star.
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The reported fee that Shanghai SIPG is willing to pay for Oscar is a ridiculous £60 million and Chelsea would be crazy to turn down that sort of money. The Blues signed Oscar in 2012 for £19.35 million and while he has done well in a Chelsea shirt and showed flashes of great potential, no one would be foolish enough to think that he has done enough to triple his value in these four years.
This year Oscar has done even less to boost that value as he has been relegated to a bench role with Chelsea FC having made just five starts and four substitute appearances so far in the Premier League.
Maybe it is a product of the Blues not playing in Europe and already being knocked out of the EFL Cup but with fewer minutes to go around Oscar has been one of the odd men out.
Chelsea FC have made a habit of selling their bench players for big money as they did with Romelu Lukaku, Andre Schurrle, Juan Mata, and David Luiz even though the Brazilian was brought back a few years later. This deal, were it to happen, would represent the latest in a series of shrewd business moves by the Blues and they must take advantage.
Oscar is a marketable player with great skill but he is incredibly inconsistent and has never shown enough to justify turning down a £60 million transfer fee. For whatever potential promise Oscar has shown that fee could be used to buy two players that are equally as good or even better than the young Brazilian.
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It would be sad to see a player of his age and potential waste away in the irrelevance of the Chinese Super League but if he agrees to the move the Blues should waste no time in making it official.