Accept the $25 Million Offer and Say Goodbye to Real Madrid to Play at Chelsea

Real Madrid never stops scouting the elite European soccer market in search of opportunities to expand its squad. The scouts led by Juni Calafat drew attention some time ago to a powerful midfielder playing in LaLiga. The name Dário Essugo quickly found its place on the club's future prospects list as a possible addition to further strengthen Carlo Ancelotti's midfield.

The main obstacle to the player's incorporation was on the economic front. Although Essugo is having an excellent season at Las Palmas, he is actually on loan to the Canary team from Sporting Lisbon. His contract with the Portuguese entity included a release clause set at 45 million euros, a figure that seemed very high in the Valdebebas offices.

Despite the fact that the Portuguese midfielder is having a great season with the island team, the board hoped to negotiate that release clause downwards. Especially considering that Dário Essugo's own value is set at eight million euros, a strikingly abysmal difference for the Madrid sports management. The message from the noble area of the José Alvalade stadium was very clear: Dário Essugo's release clause is not open to negotiations.

This circumstance made Real Madrid decide to slightly distance itself from the possibility of signing the Portuguese midfielder for the coming seasons. Not without first having conducted a significant follow-up on his performance on the field in the current soccer season, a future that Chelsea has thwarted.

Waiting for the Resolution

The executives led by Todd Boehly have shown in recent hours a great interest in acquiring the services of Dário Essugo. Nevertheless, they are not willing to pay those 45 million euros of his release clause. According to information published by the newspaper MARCA, they have put about 25 million euros on the table, hoping for a positive reply from Portugal as soon as possible.

The high interest of the elite European soccer in acquiring the player on loan to Las Palmas has put Sporting Lisbon on alert. Right now, those 25 million euros from the blue offer are the highest approach they have received to date... and that they could receive for Dário Essugo in the short-term future.

Time to solve the saga is running out. Dário Essugo is under contract with Sporting Portugal until summer 2027, a circumstance that keeps him on Real Madrid's agenda for 2026. But the executives led by Florentino Pérez will not enter a bidding war for the Portuguese pivot, especially against a club like Chelsea, with an apparently infinite budget for signings.

In this context, Real Madrid maintains its 'watch' on the elite European market in search of a creative defensive midfielder. The retirement of Toni Kroos has negatively impacted the club much more than expected, so the sports management wishes to find his successor as soon as possible.