Not sure, don’t remember reading as such but that’s not to say it didn’t happen either. I can only remember those reports about Levy pushing for that deal because I genuinely laughed upon reading at how he valued Richarlison at £90m and therefore paying £60m was seen as genius - it does seem a very Levy thing to think of - but I can’t be as certain on Richarlison being Levy’s signing as I am with Spence. Spence’s one ended up becoming quite funny because we saw how quick and efficient Paratici was, as he signed about 3 players in the space it took Levy to get Spence. Paratici wasn’t perfect but he was probably the best thing to happen to us since Pochettino I’d say in terms of non-playing personnel. I suppose it was only natural we weren’t allowed to have a nice thing for too long!
Never heard of that source tbh but doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Pretty sure it was The Athletic who were reporting about Levy pushing for him, they’re reasonably reliable.
The Athletic article basically said that Levy spotted that Everton would be under ffp pressure so Richarlison could be got for a fair price. They then spun that into suggesting that Levy pushed hard for the deal so was he Conte's choice? The problem with that is that it should have been a Paratici call, not Conte’s in any case. I've no idea if the source I posted is reliable but journalists rarely make up direct quotes because they can be sued.
It was a bigger mistake to leave him in a position where he had to spend that much money in one go in order to remain competitive.
Yes, I know but I don't think Everton would have sold for that unless under ffp pressure. The reports at the time said that Levy led the negotiations for Richarlison and Spence to free up Paratici for other transfers.
There were several reports that Poch was offered Tielemans the previous year but wanted to wait for Ndombele.
Well, it 'freed him up' to sign: - Bissouma: Final year of his contract, not wanted by the manager. Still flatters to deceive. - Udogie: Top prospect. - Perisic: Free transfer, end of his career - Forster: Free transfer, end of his career So it may have freed up his time, but it clearly didn't free up any money. It seems utterly illogical for Levy to lead negotiations on our two biggest expenditures of a window, leaving the actual DoF to negotiate with remaining scraps and crumbs.
Why illogical? The DoF job is to decide how best to spend the budget which implies coming up with target buys and sells and values at which we will deal. Negotiating to get better value doesn't require footballing knowledge at all. So you should aim Levy at the trickier targets as he is supposed to be a good negotiator. However Spence was cheaper than Bissouma in any case.
I don't believe Richarlison was a DoF (or Conte) target, it had all the hallmarks of Levy spotting what he thought was a bargain and forcing everyone else into it. In so doing, he left the DoF with less than 50% of the overall budget to "decide how best to spend it". Clearly "negotiating to get better value" does require footballing knowledge, as anyone who'd seen Richarlison in action beyond a youtube compilation would tell you that he isn't worth anywhere near what we paid for him and over two years later, that supposed value has only plummeted further. We didn't get better value thanks to Levy's negotiating prowess. We got absolutely fleeced. I wouldn't "aim" Levy at anything that isn't a property portfolio, hotel chain, cheese room, or corporate box with heated seats. There is precious little evidence that he has any expertise on the footballing side of things whatsoever.
I think Bissouma's being played in the wrong role. He should be rotating with Sarr, not Bentancur. Gray might be the right man for the other position, but it's hard to tell when he's playing fullback.
If your first paragraph is correct then any self respecting DoF would have resigned. There is also very little evidence that Levy takes control of footballing matters...the way it ought to work is that the DoF should say to Levy...I want Richarlison if we can get him for £60m and then we should determine which of the management team will achieve the best price in the negotiations. This is rarely a footballing argument...it is much more about who has the most leverage.
But I didn't give an opinion. @Citizen Kane. said something was illogical and I commented that it wasn't illogical to use your supposed best negotiatior on the biggest deal. I have no idea who is the best negotiator in the club and I doubt anyone else on here does either.
Then we're stuck in a catch-22. Any DoF who honestly believes Richarlison is worth £60m should be sacked the moment they utter the suggestion. The more plausible sequence of events is that the DoF asked Levy for £60m to improve the team, to which Levy said "Hang on, you've just given me a brilliant idea. The fans will love this. So will Antonio."
