Is Alexis Sánchez worth what Udinese wants and FC Barcelona's paying for Him?

Paying more €40 million for Alexis Sánchez seems like too much, doesn't it?

Transfermarkt has the player valued at €25 million. Which I would agree is a fair price to pay for a forward with his skill-set. I'd even pay €30.

But €40 is way over the hill.

Still, Udinese seems to think their player is worth that kind of money.

But here's the turning point: Barça know he's not worth that much.

How do I know that?

Well, it's all a matter of variables.

In any negotiation, the person selling has to put a higher price than they intend to sell, so that when things are set and done they end up with more or less what they wanted for their asset.

But Udinese has an odd way of negotiating. They believe Alexis is worth €40 million and not a penny less.

At first I thought asking for that amount would end up in a middle-ground €35 million transfer. But it seems that just won't happen.

So Gianpaolo Pozzo and company must think he's quite good to set that bidding price.

And Barcelona have gotten creative in their negotiations and have proposed a bid I'm actually proud of: €27 million for the actual transfer plus €13 million for him completing objectives with the Blaugrana.

It actually reminds me of another player that came along for €42 million and that was heavily slurred because he was a defender: Dani Alves. The official transfer for him was €35 million plus €7million incentives. I think it's fair to say nobody thinks that was a bad transfer at all.

Here's what i like about the 27+13 formula: if he sucks, we got him for a price that was more or less his market value at the moment. But if he's as great as Udinese owners think he is, we pay the price they wanted for him.

I think that's quite fair. I honestly don't know why more transfers are handled this way.

But what I do know is this: whatever Barça ends up paying for Alexis, they'll end up with exactly the cost they deserved for the player.

And if they end up paying €40 million or more it'll be because Alexis has panned out.... and nobody will care about the transfer price then, will they?

Or do you think Dani Alves was expensive?

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