Well, there we have it. Chelsea’s first deal of January is confirmed – although the actual move won’t take place this month.
The Blues have agreed to sign centre back Mamadou Sarr from their sister club Strasbourg for somewhere between €14m and €20m, depending on who you believe. They will then loan him back until the end of the season. That will take up a loan slot, so one of the three players currently parked there will have to come back.
The 6’4 France youth international joined the Alsatians last summer for €10m from Lyon, and has been a first team regular for Liam Rosenior. He played U19 football as a 16 year old, and as almost 50 senior appearances before his 20th birthday – so he’s certainly more experienced than your average 19 year old player.
🚨EXCLUSIVE Chelsea is set to sign talent Mamadou Sarr from Strasbourg 💫
🔹Agreement between the player and Chelsea for a long term contract
➡️ Negociation ongoing between the clubs – both own by BlueCo – transfer fee around 20M€. Strasbourg will keep the defender on loan. pic.twitter.com/u9wmtknsRT
— Fabrice Hawkins (@FabriceHawkins) January 20, 2025
It’s an interesting decision given the central defensive chaos at the club at the moment – Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile are out injured (and both are struggling to convince as reliable long term options given their endless fitness woes). Axel Disasi and Tosin Adarabioyo both appear to be for sale, Trevoh Chalobah has just been recalled from his loan at Crystal Palace and Josh Acheampong has been called up from the youth teams.
Chelsea’s loan decision curious with registration red tape to deal with
The decision to do this move now is a curious one – why buy him and loan him back when we could just arrange the purchase to take place in the summer? Doing it this way means we use up a loan slot which could otherwise be free. Perhaps there’s an obvious financial or registration reason for arranging it this way – if there is, we’re missing it.
As reported elsewhere, #CFC have agreed a deal with Strasbourg for Mamadou Sarr to join in the summer. Worth around €14million. More here: https://t.co/2pv3zPJiZm
— Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) January 20, 2025
Any hopes of Andrey Santos being recalled also seem diminished by this move – unless he’s the player recalled to make space for Sarr.
