Newton’s Third Law of Transfer Motion states that for every (trans)action, there is an equal and opposite (PS)Reaction. For example, if one team spends £37.5m on one player, that player’s old club in turn spends £19m on another player moving in the opposite direction. The monetary values are not equal, but the effect on the teams’ balance sheets is equally beneficial. Hurray, financial fair play!
In the latest example, we have Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall moving to Chelsea for £30m in a transfer that seems rather unnecessary in terms of the actual football (we have several players who could play that No.8 role in a midfield-three just fine, including Conor Gallagher and Roméo Lavia). But since it looks like KDH is coming, we have to have the associated reaction. And that appears to be young midfielder Michael Golding moving the other way.
To underline the PSR-iness of this transaction, no buy-backs or sell-on clauses are set to be included in the deal; just a straight up transfer for a promising 19-year-old, who joined the Chelsea Academy at the under-12 level in 2018. He made his senior debut this past season in a late cameo against Preston North End in the FA Cup third round.