Chelsea have reportedly stopped the transfer of Deivid Washington to sister club Strasbourg because they feared the deal would be criticized by the club.
According to French football expert and regular The Pitch Prospect commentator Julien Laurens, everything was agreed between the two clubs – both owned by Todd Boehly – allowing the 19-year-old Brazilian to move from Chelsea to Strasbourg for £17.6 million. [€21m]with 2.5 million pounds [€3m] in add-ons.
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And this for a player who only joined the Blues last summer for around £13 million and has only made three appearances for the first team.
Washington was willing to undergo the medical to complete the transfer to the Ligue 1 club, but Chelsea withdrew from the deal after doubts arose over its legality and the finances involved.
Chelsea reportedly wanted to raise around £20m from player sales this summer to balance its balance sheet and comply with spending regulations. Both clubs have the same owners.
BlueCo, a consortium led by Boehly and Clearlake Capital, took over management of Chelsea in 2022 and became the majority owner of Strasbourg in 2023.
Questions about the deal have come from fans and media pundits – including The Pitch Prospect host Jim White and Arsenal legend Martin Keown – but Laurens says the Premier League and FIFA have also raised concerns about the transfer between the two teams.
It is also claimed that the transfer of Diego Moreira from Chelsea to Strasbourg at the start of the summer period for around £7.5 million is being reviewed by the Premier League and FIFA.
Chelsea have also transferred goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic to Strasbourg, which was announced on deadline day, but on loan. American defender Caleb Wiley and Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos also joined on loan in the summer.
However, Laurens claims that Strasbourg were not actually looking for a new striker and were not particularly keen on Washington as Chelsea pushed for the deal to be completed.
Ultimately, the Premier League club called off the transfer and the young Brazilian star will stay at Stamford Bridge for the time being, although it is more likely that he will leave the club in January.
Even though this transfer fell through, there was a lot going on at Chelsea on deadline day and there were a lot of comings and goings – the most notable being the departure of Raheem Sterling and the arrival of Jadon Sancho.
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Sterling made a surprise move to Arsenal, who negotiated a deal that will see the Gunners pay significantly less than 50 percent of the English star’s £325,000-per-week salary.
Sancho is expected to arrive on loan from Manchester United with a purchase price of between £20m and £25m, but the deal had yet to be confirmed by the clubs as of Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, Trevoh Chalobah was rescued from Chelsea’s bomb disposal squad by Crystal Palace and loaned to Chelsea.
Armando Broja was also signed on loan to Everton, although a foot injury prevented a planned transfer to Ipswich at the start of the transfer window.
White, Keown and Simon Jordan discussed the Chelsea-Strasbourg link-up and other multi-club models on Friday’s White and Jordan Show.
And while Jim and Martin said it was unfair that clubs with the same ownership were allowed to trade with each other, Simon insisted that this was part of the rules and had become a common tactic in the game.
White: “I look at the boy. He’s just a boy, a Brazilian, 19 years old, and Chelsea are basically selling their son to Chelsea.”
Jordan: “Yes, that’s what happens in the market, isn’t it?”
Keown: “Is that credible, Simon? A question for you as our expert: Is that credible? Can you use these numbers? Can you actually trade with another club that you own? Isn’t that something like insider trading?”
White: “Exactly! Isn’t the fee excessive?”
Jordan: “I don’t know, I’m not the one who buys the player. I’m not an expert on Chelsea’s business, so I don’t know why they sold the player for that price and why the other club bought him. But you have a player value of 16 million euros a year ago. So if he was sold for 20 million, you have 20% inflation on the price that was paid for him. That’s your yardstick. Players go up and down. It’s not like he was bought for nothing.”
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Keown: “Do the rules allow you to continue trading with a club you already own?”
Jordan: “Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Otherwise they wouldn’t do it.”
Keown “Is this being postponed? I’ve heard there are changes in the air.”
Jordan: “Well, the rule is very clear. You don’t have to be an idiot to see that. If they transfer her to another club and the rules prevent them from doing so, they couldn’t do it, could they?”
Keown: “Is that fair?”
Jordan: “It depends on what perspective you have. Multi-ownership agreements between football clubs or ownership of several clubs is a principle today. It happens all the time. Is it fair that a player can be sold to Saudi Arabia and they can decide which football club he goes to?”