Chelsea Transfers

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12 hours ago, Vesper said:

10 big questions I want answered (about BlueCo)

1. Why was Tuchel REALLY sacked?

2. Why on earth did we buy Badi AND Disasi and pass on so many far better CBs?

3. Why did we drop 75m quid for an already damaged Wes Fofana?

4. What is the REAL story behind the Shamu 'failed medical' (especially if it is debunked like you said)

5. Why the fuck did we drop £88m on meh keepers (unless Penders turns into a monster) and not one of them was named Mamardashvili?

6. Once Shamu fell through, why the fuck did we not just pay the £40m for Duran (and we could have done that before Shamu as well, plus that would have also meant no need to drop almost 20m quid on the pure dice roll teen Omari Kellyman) and instead went all fuckabout with fucking Osimhen?

7. Why the fuck did we buy a 'clearly in decline' Sterling and then double down on the mistake and give him that insane £85m contract?

8. Why the fuck did we drop a potential £89m (if all add-ons are paid out) on Mudryk?

9. What the fuck is going on with the new stadium?

10. Why have we STILL not locked down a main shirt sponsor?

 

I will be super generous and NOT bring up the insane overpays for Enzo and Caicedo, nor the KDH buy (although, even if he comes semi-good, there were 10+ better CMF options out there). I also understand (not agree with in most cases, though) some of the other dodgy buys that we dice-rolled on early on in the Boehly as Sporting Director times.

Also we did try with Sesko (as did almost every big club) and he told everyone to piss off, so no anger there from me at all.

There have been so many weird decisions made since they took control, and new reports indicate that Boehly and Eghbali aren't always on the same page.

The fact that we're dealing with the same issue with a shirt sponsor for the second season and losing a significant amount of money in the interim is really alarming. Surely, there are plenty of possible companies who would bite at the chance, which raises even more concerns about what is going on behind the scenes.

8 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

What if they backed off after seeing fans reaction? 

They didn't back out of the deal, they just wanted half of Samu's player rights. If he agreed, we wouldn't be having this conversation now.

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Fabrizio Romano confirms Chelsea plan to sell £50m star, as January transfer to unbeaten giant awaits

https://www.teamtalk.com/Chelsea/fabrizio-romano-confirms-Chelsea-plan-sell-50m-star-january-transfer-atletico-madrid-awaits

Chelsea plan to offload left-back Ben Chilwell at the earliest possible opportunity and an unbeaten European giant are reportedly showing ‘strong interest’ in making a move.

Chilwell does not feature in Enzo Maresca’s plans, with Marc Cucurella first choice and ably backed up by summer signing Renato Veiga.

According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea’s plan is to sell Chilwell in the January window.

Romano wrote on X: “The plan remains to part ways in January with Chilwell expected to be one of the players set to leave Chelsea.”

The 27-year-old cost roughly £50m when bought from Leicester City back in 2020. The Blues will struggle to recoup a fee close to that sum, though they do reportedly have a suitor ready to splash the cash.

Reports claim Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid are showing ‘strong interest’ in Chilwell and a mid-season transfer is being targeted.

Atletico have started the new campaign in fine fashion and following Angel Correa’s last-gasp equaliser against Real Madrid last time out, they’re one of just two unbeaten sides in LaLiga after eight games (four wins, four draws). The other is Real Madrid (five wins, three draws).

Chilwell has Premier League interest too

Chelsea sought to offload Chilwell over the summer, with the defender part of the so-called ‘bomb squad’ of stars Maresca had no intention of using.

Chilwell has featured just once this season on the back of failing to secure a transfer away. His only outing came in the EFL Cup thrashing of League Two side Barrow.

In the event Chilwell were to join Atletico Madrid he’d link up with former Blues teammate Conor Gallagher.

The all-action midfielder signed to the tune of £34m and has started Atletico’s last five matches in LaLiga, scoring two goals during that span.

Chilwell may yet have options to remain in England, with the Sun detailing Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town’s interest in mid-September.

Both Premier League sides are said to be ‘tracking’ Chilwell, though given his lack of game-time there hasn’t been a great deal to observe of late.

Chelsea quoted new Duran fee / Ipswich alternative eyed

In other news, Chelsea are still chasing Brazilian wonderkid Joao Pedro Chermont despite seeing a bid rejected.

The Santos sensation, 18, is a right-back by trade and his contract contains a hefty €70m (£58.8m / $77.2m) release clause.

Elsewhere, TEAMtalk can confirm Chelsea also retain hope of prising Jhon Duran out of Aston Villa.

The Blues tried and failed to sign the Colombian hotshot last summer, though in lieu of his spectacular form this term, Villa are now demanding upwards of £80m.

Finally, we can exclusively reveal the Blues are weighing up a swoop for former Manchester City striker, Liam Delap.

The 21-year-old completed a £20m move to Ipswich Town in July and has scored three goals in six Premier League matches for Kieran McKenna’s side so far.

Chilwell can follow in Lineker, McMananan, Beckham footsteps

A move to Atletico Madrid would see Chilwell reunite with England teammate Conor Gallagher, who left Chelsea and joined Diego Simeone’s side in a £34million deal in the summer transfer window.

Kieran Trippier is the only other Englishman to have played for Atletico and he helped the club win the LaLiga title in the 2020/21 season.

Overall, 23 English footballers have played for a club in La Liga and Chilwell could be about to follow in the footsteps of some iconic figures.

The likes of Laurie Cunningham, Gary Lineker, Steve McManaman, David Beckham and Jude Bellingham have all won trophies in Spain.

But not every Englishman has been a success in La Liga as Jonathan Woodgate, Jermaine Pennant, Stan Collymore and Peter Barnes all endured difficult stints in Spain.

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Ben Chilwell will move in January but Josh Acheampong is staying at Chelsea

https://thedailybriefing.io/i/149749832/ben-chilwell-will-move-in-january-but-josh-acheampong-is-staying-at-Chelsea

It's too early to comment on where Ben Chilwell will end up next. This is gonna be a topic for December because now it's still quiet.

Chilwell is training at the best level possible to help Chelsea and to be as professional as usual. There are no contacts ongoing with any club yet, but the plan is for Chelsea to sell/offload Chilwell in January, that’s true.

Staying with the Blues, there's no "situation" at all with Josh Acheampong.

He's a Chelsea player, considered part of the project and an important talent, and he’s also really appreciated by Enzo Maresca and his staff.

No story, no talks with Newcastle or any other club, nothing.

Acheampong is one of the players trusted by Chelsea and there are no movements ongoing.

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Nothing in Frenkie de Jong to United/Chelsea rumours

https://thedailybriefing.io/i/149749832/nothing-in-frenkie-de-jong-to-unitedchelsea-rumours

 

 

There are no movements expected in January for Frenkie de Jong despite contractual rumours in the Spanish media, it's completely quiet. There's nothing in it.

He's still very happy at Barcelona and fully focused on recovering his best form after the injury.

All the rest - Chelsea, Man United - is just speculation, nothing else. I repeat, no transfer movements around de Jong.

 

 

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Gleison Bremer is out for the season but Juve won’t replace him until January

https://thedailybriefing.io/i/149749832/gleison-bremer-is-out-for-the-season-but-juve-wont-replace-him-until-january

It's a sad day for Juventus.

Although it was an amazing night for them in the Champions League against Leipzig, there was a very serious injury to Gleison Bremer.

A torn ACL and meniscus means that the season is over for a fantastic player.

He will be back stronger I'm sure, but for Juventus it means some kind of emergency option for the centre-back position.

Obviously they have Gati and Kalulu and they can maybe adapt Danilo, but they need one more centre-back.

There were rumours about Sergio Ramos, because he’s probably the biggest name on the free agents market available right now.

What I can tell you is that the current position of Juventus is to not go and sign any centre-backs.

No contacts are taking place yet, Juventus will take their time, it happened not even 20 hours ago... no rush, no panic.

So, despite the stories surrounding Ramos and any other centre-backs, Juventus will consider entering the market in January but not before.

They will discuss options with Motta and pick the best one.

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Jhon Durán was really, really close to Chelsea last summer

https://thedailybriefing.io/i/149749832/jhon-duran-was-really-really-close-to-Chelsea-last-summer

Jhon Durán is one of the best young strikers in Europe in this moment, but he's almost never starting for Aston Villa.

Every time he enters the pitch he’s making an impact, scoring impressive goals and what he's doing is fantastic.

Against Bayern he scored the winner on an historical night for Aston Villa, but Jhon Durán was actually really, really, really close to becoming a new Chelsea player at some point over the summer transfer window.

It was before the beginning of the Euros. In that moment, early June, Chelsea and Aston Villa almost agreed on every part of the deal, which included Conor Gallagher.

He was a priority target for Unai Emery and for Aston Villa but the real issue in this story was Conor Gallagher rejected the move. Particularly because of the timing as he wanted to represent England.

The deal collapsed, but Jhon Durán was a really strong candidate for Chelsea.

Let me also say credits to Villa, because when West Ham and other clubs wanted to sign the player, the club always said £50 million pounds or nothing.

They rejected several approaches, several proposals for £42m plus an academy player, £42m plus a sell on clause… several proposals from other clubs, but Villa decided to keep Durán.

Not an easy decision to make because there was important money on the table for a player who is not a regular.

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Fabrizio Romano's Daily Briefing

https://thedailybriefing.io/p/excl-juventus-looking-for-january

 

Milan sounded out Samu Aghehowa this summer

It’s true that Milan’s priority was always Tammy Abraham, who they eventually signed in the final days of the summer transfer window. However, it is also true that Milan sounded out other strikers, like Samu Aghehowa. The striker joined Porto from Atletico with a particular agreement: €15m for the 50% of the player’s right, which could raise to €25m for 80%. The clause is €100m. Aghehowa was packing his suitcase to join Porto in the summer, when Milan called. It was a request of information from the Rossoneri. They wanted to know the conditions for his transfer. However, the player had already reached an agreement with Porto, so he thanked Milan, but he wasn’t open to the dialogue. Juventus and Brentford had also asked for information even if more lightly. At some point, it seemed that Samu Aghehowa could joined Real Sociedad, but the La Liga side’s priority was Orri Óskarsson and when they decided to go all the way for the Iceland international, Aghehowa had the Porto option ready. The Portuguese side was his priority and kept his word despite Milan’s call.

Juventus will be looking for defensive reinforcement after Bremer injury

Juventus are not interested in signing a free agent to replace Bremer before the winter transfer window opens. However, as far as I know, Juventus will try to make an addition to the squad in January. Thiago Motta knows Jakub Kiwior well, having worked with the Poland international at Spezia. Nevertheless, his exit conditions from Arsenal are still unclear and it’s not even certain that Arsenal will let him go. It’s a situation that must be monitored, but I can confirm that Juventus will be looking for a central defender in the market during the January transfer window.

Davide Calabria’s Milan future uncertain

I can confirm that contract extension talks are stalling. Right now, there are signals that negotiations are not progressing and there’s a feeling that Calabria may not continue at Milan. His deal at San Siro expires this coming June. Galatasaray already made a concrete attempt to sign Calabria in the summer, precisely in August. However, the player wasn’t too convinced about the destination and I’m told that the situation has not changed. As of today, the Turkish League and Galatasaray are not among his favourite options. Surely, the player will look for alternative solutions to understand his future because contract extension talks with Milan are stalling.

Bryan Zaragoza’s Bayern Munich return unlikely

The 23-year-old has joined Osasuna on loan from Bayern Munich last summer and the player’s objective is to give his best for his club, for his and Osasuna’s good. Already today, however, I don’t see Zaragoza return to Bayern Munich at the end of the season. I believe that the two clubs will sit down to discuss a permanent transfer for the versatile winger. Surely, the player is entirely focused on Osasuna and has started the season well, scoring against Barcelona in La Liga. He’s returning to his level, but I think it’s unlikely that he’ll return to Bayern Munich, so the two clubs will sit down before the end of the season to find a solution regarding a permanent move.

Dani Carvajal in advanced talks for Real Madrid extension

As we already said in previous months, Carvajal is an important player for Real Madrid, on and off the pitch. There are ongoing talks for his contract extension given that his current deal runs out in June 2025. The two parties are discussing a one-year extension. It’s not a done deal yet, but both parties have a strong desire to shake hands. They are finalising an agreement as they want to continue together. Carvajal is a reference point in the dressing room and for young players joining Real Madrid and the La Liga giants want to continue relying on him.

 

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Omorodion, Duran, Osimhen - Six transfer targets Chelsea didn't sign and how they're doing now

Chelsea signed plenty of players during the summer transfer window, but Enzo Maresca was given just one new striker

https://www.football.london/Chelsea-fc/transfer-news/omorodion-duran-osimhen-six-transfer-30069542

Chelsea were heavily linked with numerous big names during the summer transfer window – but not all of them penned deals at Stamford Bridge. With Enzo Maresca eager to bolster his squad, the Blues welcomed 11 new faces to Cobham training ground; three of which were sent back out on loan.

Out of the eight who remained in west London, only one was a striker – Marc Guiu, who was prised from Barcelona for just £5m. Despite the 18-year-old's impressive performances in pre-season, Chelsea were still thought to be in the market for a new frontman up until the eleventh hour.

Then, on deadline day, the Blues wrapped up a deal for Jadon Sancho, ditching any plan of getting their hands on a striker. So, with that being said, football.london has looked at the six strikers Chelsea nearly signed but didn't in the summer transfer window.

Samu Omorodion

Chelsea were offered to sign Joao Felix by Jorge Mendes after a deal for Samu Omorodion collapsed, football.london understands. The 20-year-old striker, who once looked destined to join the Blues, went on to join Porto instead, where he's enjoyed an excellent vein of form.

Omorodion has featured six times for the Portuguese giants this season, scoring seven goals – four in the Primeira Liga and three in the Europa League. While Chelsea raised eyebrows by pursuing the Spain Under-21 international, the club's interest has been vindicated by his statement performance against Manchester United on Thursday night.

 

READ MORE: Arsenal given Thomas Partey transfer deadline as Mikel Arteta makes true feelings clear

READ MORE: Enzo Maresca sends forgotten Chelsea star clear transfer message as 'agreement' revealed

Jhon Duran

Jhon Duran was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea for some time before his recent rise to superstardom, but the club never bit the bullet. According to The Telegraph in January 2024, the Blues were considering a bid for the 20-year-old striker after Aston Villa rejected an enquiry from West Ham.

Then, in the summer, football.london understood that Chelsea cooled their interest in Duran. It's believed that the two clubs were in talks, but the Colombian's wage demands were thought to be 'too high' and there were some concerns over his attitude.

Victor Osimhen

football.london understands that Chelsea submitted a bid for Victor Osimhen on the day before the summer transfer window deadline. It's believed that the Blues offered to sign the 25-year-old on a season-long loan, which included an obligation-to-buy clause.

Despite the west Londoners' best efforts, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart couldn't wrap up a deal for the Nigeria international. football.london understands that Al-Ahli were in talks with Osimhen, with the Saudi Pro League club thought to have presented him an 'extortionate salary'.

Instead, he decided to join Galatasaray on loan from Napoli for the remainder of the season. The Italian club confirmed that they reached an agreement with Osimhen to retain the option to extend his contract until June 2027.

A new deal would also reputedly reduce his release clause to €75m (£63m) from €130m (£110m) – which is almost in line with the €80m (£67m) offer from Al Ahli that Napoli reportedly accepted. Osimhen has hit the ground running in Turkey, scoring two and setting up four in his first four games.

Jonathan David

football.london understands that Chelsea opened talks with Jonathan David's representatives over a possible move to Stamford Bridge in June. It's believed that the 24-year-old striker was eager to leave Lille after four years at the club.

David was 'strongly considered' and negotiations took place, but a deal failed to materialise. The Canada international is now also enjoying a brilliant vein of form, scoring eight goals in his last 12 games.

Sehrou Guirassy

Sehrou Guirassy was mooted a potential target for many clubs in Europe after helping Stuttgart finish second in the Bundesliga and claim Champions League qualification. Despite missing a chunk of the campaign while away at the Africa Cup of Nations, the 28-year-old still managed to score 28 goals in 28 games in the German top-flight.

He joined Borussia Dortmund on a four-year deal in the summer. Unsurprisingly, Guirassy has also done well this term, netting six in his first five appearances.

Ivan Toney

After failing to find a new club in Europe, Ivan Toney joined Al-Ahli. Brentford accepted a bid worth around £40m for the 28-year-old late into the summer transfer window.

Toney was, in fact, one of several players that Chelsea considered signing ahead of deadline day, football.london understands. The England international was viewed as a much cheaper and more attainable alternative to Osimhen, who Chelsea had previously held talks about.

He has played six games for his new club so far, netting two goals and laying on one assist.

Edited yesterday at 03:31 by Vesper

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Exclusive: Real Madrid turn attention to signing Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran

https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-real-madrid-turn-attention-to-signing-aston-villas-jhon-duran/

Real Madrid are keeping close tabs on Aston Villa man-of-the-moment Jhon Duran, sources have told Football Insider.

Real’s recruitment team have been wowed by the 20-year-old Colombia international’s stunning start to the season at Villa.

The Spanish giants have a “concrete” interest in Duran ahead of the January transfer window and will continue to monitor his situation.

The youngster hit the headlines across Europe with a stunning 79th-minute lob over Manuel Neuer to secure a shock 1-0 Champions League win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.

Duran has scored a goal every 82.78 minutes in the Premier League since joining from MLS side Chicago Fire back in January 2023, eclipsing Erling Haaland’s minutes-per-goal ratio of 85 minutes.

Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran a target for Real Madrid

He has taken his game to new heights with six goals in just 297 minutes across nine appearances in all competitions for Villa so far this season, with all those strikes coming as a substitute.

Emery’s side paid £14.75million plus a potential £3.3million in bonuses to Chicago Fire for Duran in January of last year, tying him down until July 2028.

Villa are fifth in the Premier League with four wins, one draw, and one defeat in their opening six Premier League games.

Meanwhile, by their incredibly high standards, it’s been an underwhelming start to the season for Real, already three points behind rivals Barcelona at the summit in the race for the La Liga title.

They’ve struggled on the continent as well, falling to defeat in their trip to French side Lille, courtesy of a Jonathan David penalty just before half-time.

In other news, Aston Villa are working on January signing in one position – Ex-Villa scout.

Edited yesterday at 03:49 by Vesper

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Exclusive: Chelsea coaches ‘alarmed’ by Kendry Paez as new footage analysed

https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-Chelsea-coaches-alarmed-by-kendry-paez-as-new-footage-analysed/

Chelsea are “very worried” about the development of wonderkid signing Kendry Paz, sources have told Football Insider.

The 17-year-old will sign for Chelsea in a £17.2million move once he turns 18 in May 2025, but he has been caught in some off-field skirmishes.

The Londoners are “alarmed” by Paez’s lack of development on the pitch since his signing last year.

Sources have told Football Insider that the attacking midfielder isn’t progressing as quickly as coaches hoped amid new concerns about whether he will be ready for the Premier League next year.

Chelsea have been scrutinising all of his footage, and he has not been as effective in recent months as the Premier League giants had hoped.

Paez made 32 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring seven goals and providing five assists.

Chelsea had been impressed by Kendry Paez’s performances

The Blues agreed to a deal to sign the teenager from Independiente del Valle in the summer of 2023 when he was just 16 years old.

Paez became the youngest-ever South American to score in a World Cup qualifier last October after being assisted by his future Chelsea teammate, Moises Caicedo.

However, off-the-field antics have led to him being warned by Ecuador manager Sebastian Beccacece about his behaviour.

 

Chelsea are currently thriving in all competitions after making an impressive start to life under Enzo Maresca.

The new Blues boss has proven he can be ruthless with players, cutting out the likes of Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell.

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The Diarra Ruling could change football forever – but it’s big clubs like Chelsea & Man Utd that will benefit

https://www.3addedminutes.com/sport/football/Chelsea/diarra-ruling-change-football-benefit-4810621

The Diarra case means that FIFA may be forced to change the way transfers work so that players can move more easily - but who benefits?

Depending on who you listen to, the success of the Diarra Case will either change football as we know it or achieve precious little. Between a likely appeal and what will likely be lengthy wrangling over what rules changes are actually required, we probably won’t see an immediate impact. But whatever the eventual outcome of this supposed successor to the Bosman Ruling, it’s likely to be the biggest clubs that are the real winners once again.

The roots of the case date back 10 years. Former Real Madrid, Chelsea and Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra was playing for Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow when his contract was broken ahead of an attempted move to Charleroi in Belgium. Lokomotiv Moscow scotched the move when they insisted that the value of Diarra’s contract with them was owed by player and club – and the deal fell through as a result.

It's the mechanisms that prevented Diarra from moving freely between clubs that were being protested in a lawsuit which escalated from Belgium to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) – and a ruling announced on Friday determined that some of the rules set by FIFA which govern transfer dealings are unlawful, and both unduly restrict players’ freedom of movement between jobs and restrict cross-border competition.

What the ruling means

There are a great many specifics to work through and the case is in any case subject to appeal in the Belgian courts, but the ruling effectively demands that FIFA remove barriers to players breaking their contracts with clubs and ‘quitting’ just like the rest of us.

As it stands, there are various rules standing between players just leaving their existing contract and signing elsewhere. Firstly, both player and new club are currently jointly liable for the cost of the existing contract. Secondly, a ban on registering new players can be imposed by FIFA under certain circumstances. Thirdly and finally, national associations are expected to withhold clearance to play for players in such cases. All of these mechanisms upholding the old transfer system are specifically called out as illegal in the CJEU’s ruling.

In theory, this is a huge victory for the players, and it has been welcomed by umbrella players’ union FIFPRO. While the ruling does not impose any specific solution on FIFA, it was effectively force football’s governing body to change the regulations such that players have the means to quit their clubs and move to other teams. It should give players more power to determine their career paths and erode the ability of clubs to hang on to players when they want to move.

That’s why the ruling has been hailed – or damned – in some quarters as a New Bosman Ruling. There’s an interpretation of the ruling, should it hold up on appeal, that says players can simply leave their clubs and take up more enticing offers elsewhere as and when suits them. It is highly unlikely to be as straightforward as that, though.

Although the CJEU ruling determined that FIFA’s existing rules are unlawful, it does not suggest that it cannot impose some reasonable restrictions on players moving clubs repeatedly for bigger and better contracts. Some mechanisms which already exist to protect clubs may well become used more extensively, for instance, such as minimum fee release clauses, which are mandatory on all playing contracts in Spain, could perhaps be extended to the players themselves as well.

There could also be room for a tribunal system to determine fair compensation amounts for players who wish to leave ‘on a Diarra’, similar to that currently used to figure out compensation for clubs when youth players are poached now. A full-blown free-for-all is exceptionally unlikely given the wording of the ruling, even if the exact shape of the new regulations is indeterminate as it stands. Essentially, FIFA doesn’t necessarily have to make sure there aren’t any barriers at all to players moving freely between clubs, just to make sure that any barriers which do exist don’t restrict that freedom to an undue extent. FIFA themselves seem to believe that they only need to make small adjustments to the existing rules, although whether the courts agree with that assessment remains to be seen.

Either way, the real winners won’t necessarily be the players, although they will of course benefit and a new system could make it easier for players to get out of especially unfortunate situations at clubs that are maltreating them in some way. The real winners, as is almost always the case when a closed capitalist economic system becomes deregulated, are likely to be the same wealthy clubs who are hold most of the power.

How the case could change football

One thing that FIFA’s regulations did achieve was to provide some protection to smaller clubs, allowing them to set the terms by which their best players would leave to bigger, richer teams. As a long as a player was under contract with a team, they could determine what their required transfer fee was. Now, they may get an automated amount of compensation or even nothing at all, at the most extreme end of the possible consequences of the ruling, and nor would they enjoy any control over the timing of a player’s departure outside of transfer windows, which seem unlikely to be affected by this judgement.

Now, players may well be able to force a move as and when they wish – great for the players, even better for the wealthier sides who don’t have to jump through so many hoops. With protections for smaller teams reduced, we could see even less money filtering down the footballing pyramid globally. And the amount filtering down was already far too little across the board.

There is almost no question that if the Diarra case changes anything, the teams which benefit the most will be the wealthiest who can exploit it, not least because their own players are less likely to want to force moves away of their own as they’ll already be close to the top of the earnings potential and playing for more prestigious clubs. The only real question is the extent to which the transfer rules end up changing and the degree by which the super-rich can exploit it.

Just look at the transfer dealings undertaken by free-spending sides like Chelsea or Manchester United, the clubs who sign the most players for the most money year in and year out. As it stands, the clubs they want to take players from have tools with which to fight back and at the very least ensure that they get top dollar. If fees started to be decided by a tribunal or the players’ freedom to move positions became considerably easier in some other way, then they those smaller sides may not have access to such a luxury.

In some quarters, Chelsea have been used as an example of how big clubs could be negatively impacted - after all, if players do end up being able to move much more easily, then those eight- and nine-year contracts that they’ve been dishing out suddenly become a lot less valuable. In the short term, certainly, a significant shift in players’ freedoms to break contracts could certainly hurt a club like Chelsea that have invested heavily in a model based on a potentially-defunct transfer system. But in the long run, wealthy teams having the capacity to poach players with ease will disproportionately benefit the sides able to offer the highest wages and meatiest signing bonuses.

Significant changes may also serve to dissuade smaller clubs from investing heavily in youth development. Academies are already high-cost methods of producing players for the first team and the only way a lot of clubs can justify them down the league ladder is by earning money from player sales when youngsters come good. If that income stream is diminished, then many clubs may reduce funding for their academies or close them altogether, as several EFL clubs already have in a turbulent financial climate.

The only thing that’s almost certain is that if the Diarra case gets through the appeals process, then clubs will soon have the ability to buy players out of their contracts without FIFA or national FAs being able to prevent the player from being registered or given international clearance. That can only tilt the scales in the direction of the clubs with the most cash.

Of course, most of us would be appalled by rules which prevented us from, say, leaving a small provincial company to take up a more prestigious job at a major multinational in the same industry. Professional footballers, as well-paid as those at the top of the game may be, should plainly still have the same fundamental employment rights as the rest of us, and it is unsurprising that the traditional rules of the transfer market were not judged to be sacrosanct or more important than EU employment law. But the playing field of sports business is hardly level in the first place, and this may well tilt things even further. We are rapidly reaching a point at which asking smaller clubs to battle their way to the top through shrewd spending and development of their own players is akin to asking a local greengrocer to compete with Tesco.

It may be that little will change, and when it comes time to rewrite the rules FIFA will almost certainly do everything within their power to minimise the changes within the rules they now have to follow - but it a new system does bring in wholesale changes, then it could end up being that the entirely fair and just case brought by Diarra ends up having knock-on effects which damage the competitive balance of the game even more.

Edited 9 hours ago by Vesper

[mkh 236]

Real Madrid are considering three centre backs, Castello Lukeba, Jorrel Hato, and Vitor Reis.

[@jfelixdiaz]

[OneMoSalah 8,756]

22 hours ago, Vesper said:

Exclusive: Chelsea coaches ‘alarmed’ by Kendry Paez as new footage analysed

https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-Chelsea-coaches-alarmed-by-kendry-paez-as-new-footage-analysed/

Chelsea are “very worried” about the development of wonderkid signing Kendry Paz, sources have told Football Insider.

The 17-year-old will sign for Chelsea in a £17.2million move once he turns 18 in May 2025, but he has been caught in some off-field skirmishes.

The Londoners are “alarmed” by Paez’s lack of development on the pitch since his signing last year.

Sources have told Football Insider that the attacking midfielder isn’t progressing as quickly as coaches hoped amid new concerns about whether he will be ready for the Premier League next year.

Chelsea have been scrutinising all of his footage, and he has not been as effective in recent months as the Premier League giants had hoped.

Paez made 32 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring seven goals and providing five assists.

Chelsea had been impressed by Kendry Paez’s performances

The Blues agreed to a deal to sign the teenager from Independiente del Valle in the summer of 2023 when he was just 16 years old.

Paez became the youngest-ever South American to score in a World Cup qualifier last October after being assisted by his future Chelsea teammate, Moises Caicedo.

However, off-the-field antics have led to him being warned by Ecuador manager Sebastian Beccacece about his behaviour.

 

Chelsea are currently thriving in all competitions after making an impressive start to life under Enzo Maresca.

The new Blues boss has proven he can be ruthless with players, cutting out the likes of Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Standard…. Wonder kid not as effective as the previous season. The guys like 12, taking punts on these kind of players to be ready for the PL ever yet alone in 2 seasons is absolutely moronic.

[Vesper 28,443]

2 hours ago, mkh said:

Castello Lukeba, Jorrel Hato

both can play LB too and Carlo is very unhappy with Ferland Mendy atm