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Chelsea owners given free transfer threat by star player: BlueCo ready to flex financial muscles
Robin Bairner
- 14 Aug 2025 07:12 BST
- 4 min read
News
Chelsea owners BlueCo are in crisis-management mode at Strasbourg as a player earmarked one day to move to Stamford Bridge is threatening to depart for nothing.
The Ligue 1 outfit are currently in a heated dispute with centre-back Ismael Doukoure over his future. The France U21 international defender is wanted by clubs in the Premier League and Bundesliga and is doing everything in his power to make a deal happen.
BlueCo, meanwhile, sees Doukoure as a player who has the quality to play for Chelsea and are pushing to sign him to a new deal with the promise of a move to the English giants.
Current ETV
Ismaël Doukouré
D (CRL)
Strasbourg
Ismaël Doukouré
D (CRL)
Strasbourg
ETV Range
€15M - €18.3M
A year from the end of his contract with Liam Rosenior’s side, negotiations over a new deal have broken down.
L’Equipe reports that Strasbourg are dealing with the situation by making the player train with the reserves, with the BlueCo hierarchy stepping in to try to smooth things over.
“But the former Valenciennes player reportedly refused an offer of an extension from Strasbourg, while negotiations with Chelsea have so far been unsuccessful,” the French source reports.
Last season, Doukoure opened a dispute with the club over a potential move to Wolfsburg. Bids were rejected and the player went on to play 31 of the club’s 34 Ligue 1 games.
Tough negotiators
BlueCo is showing itself to be similarly inflexible when it comes to negotiating transfer fees for star players.
This is highlighted by the case of winger Dilane Bakwa, who has been subject to interest from Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest.
Forest have made two bids for the 22-year-old, the second of which was worth €31m including bonuses. BlueCo will not sell for less than €35m upfront, according to L’Equipe.
This attitude has drawn a comparison in France that Chelsea fans may not appreciate:
“BlueCo only sells if it wants and at the price it decides. The football world is beginning to absorb this: players, agents and clubs. An attitude reminiscent of that of Daniel Levy, the chairman of Tottenham Hotspur.”
This is underlined by Strasbourg’s €37m sale of Habib Diarra to Sunderland, a player with an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €24.8m.
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