Chelsea have reportedly agreed a deal to sign Strasbourg defender Mamadou Sarr.
The Blues have recently recalled Trevoh Chalobah from his loan stint with Crystal Palace to bolster their central-defensive numbers for the second half of the campaign.
When everyone is fit, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile, Tosin Adarabioyo, Josh Acheampong, Axel Disasi, Chalobah and Aaron Anselmino are all in contention to be options for Enzo Maresca.
However, despite Chelsea being stacked for choices in that part of the pitch in the long term, they have seemingly moved to secure a deal for another top prospects.
According to Fabrice Hawkins of RMC Sport, who was commenting on X, the Premier League giants will be signing Sarr during the summer transfer window.
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The report claims that Chelsea are bidding to sign Sarr for a €20m (£16.9m) fee with negotiations said to be ongoing.
Nevertheless, the transfer is made all the less complex with Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, also known as BlueCo, owning both Chelsea and Strasbourg.
To avoid any issues with FIFA regulations regarding fair trading, Chelsea must pay the market value for Sarr, with the above valuation expected to comply with such rules.
Sarr - who is 19 years of age - has made 12 starts in Ligue 1 this campaign, including completing the 90 minutes in each of the games during Strasbourg's ongoing five-match unbeaten run.
He had initially come through the youth system at Lyon - making three appearances in the first team - before featuring 10 times for Belgian side Molenbeek while on loan during 2023-24.
Strasbourg subsequently paid €10m for his signature in August and appear in line to double their money.
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What next?
Chelsea are reportedly happy to allow Sarr to spend the remainder of the campaign on loan at Strasbourg should a deal go through.
As it stands, though, Djordje Petrovic, Caleb Wiley and Andrey Santos are already at the French side on a temporary basis. FIFA rules dictate that a maximum of three players from one club can be loaned to another at one time.
That effectively means that Chelsea will have to wait until the summer to push through the transfer or recall one of the aforementioned trio, most likely Wiley due to his lack of game time.
Darren Plant
