Chelsea have left it late to secure their first deal of the January transfer window after reportedly finalising a move just hours before the deadline passes.
The Blues have struck a deal with Ligue 1 outfit Saint-Etienne to sign Mathis Amougou for a fee worth £10million.
The midfielder, 19, has played at Under-18 level for France and is rated as one of the country’s most exciting midfield prospects. He has already made 17 appearances for the French club this season after breaking into the first team.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Chelsea have ‘agreed a deal’ to snap up Amougou for a relatively modest fee after holding talks this week.
Enzo Maresca has been looking to bring in a midfielder before the transfer deadline after the west London club sold Cesare Casadei to Torino for £12m earlier this week.
Chelsea made an enquiry for Douglas Luiz earlier in the window, while an approach for Manchester City starlet Nico O’Reilly was rejected on deadline day.
However, the Italian is set to be left frustrated again after it emerged Amougou is unlikely to play for Chelsea this season.
Instead, the French youngster looks set to head to their feeder club RC Strasbourg, who are owned by Todd Boehly’s BlueCo consortium, for the rest of the season.
The Blues have already cleared a space at Strasbourg after sending left-back Caleb Wiley on loan to Watford for the rest of the campaign.
It was initially believed that Carney Chukwuemeka could have been heading to France after being frozen out at Stamford Bridge.
But that place may now be reserved for Amougou after Chukwuemeka moved to Borussia Dortmund on loan with an option to buy.
Unless Maresca insists he remains at Stamford Bridge before the deadline passes, he could stay in France for the foreseeable future.
The Italian boss is already on the verge of allowing Joao Felix to head to AC Milan on a six-month loan, meaning he could be left short of numbers in the midfield area after Casadei’s exit and Romeo Lavia’s prolonged absence.
Felix, a £42m signing from Atletico Madrid in August, is heading to the San Siro on a temporary deal after struggling to get first-team minutes in the Premier League under Maresca.
Chelsea could choose to recall Andrey Santos after impressing in France in the first half of the season, which would then allow Amougou to fill the gap left by the Brazilian.
However, with only hours left until the transfer deadline, there is nothing to suggest the Blues are planning to cut short his Strasbourg loan.
