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DONE DEALS
- 23 minutes ago
Chelsea secure new defender after SECOND French wonderkid rejects €30m deadline day transfer
Suraj Radia
- Updated: 2 Feb 2026 15:26 GMT
- 4 min read
News
Chelsea’s pursuit of a defender before the January transfer deadline has taken a twist after yet another wonderkid from Ligue 1 rejected the opportunity to move to Stamford Bridge.
The Blues have been keen to add another centre-back to their ranks, having seen a number of stars suffer injuries across the course of the season.
Chelsea were keen to sign Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes but the French outfit were only willing to sanction his departure in the summer and the 20-year-old has instead opted to join Liverpool in a €60 million deal.
Current ETV
Jérémy Jacquet
D (CR)
Rennes
Jérémy Jacquet
D (CR)
Rennes
ETV Range
€16M - €19.6M
The situation saw Chelsea turn to Tylel Tati, with a view to signing the Nantes defender and instantly loaning him to affiliate club Strasbourg until the end of the season.
According to L’Equipe, Chelsea made an unwritten offer of €30m for Tati and talks were held with the 18-year-old’s camp on Monday but the youngster has instead opted to remain with Nantes for the rest of the campaign.
Tati is described as wanting to take his time to decide his future and is also ‘determined’ to play a full season at his boyhood club and help them avoid relegation.
Chelsea find loan solution to centre-back problem
Chelsea will now look to formalise recalling Mamadou Sarr from his loan at Strasbourg, having initially signed the €20m from the French side in the summer.
Sarr is highly rated by Blues’ boss Liam Rosenior after working with him at Strasbourg and the Frenchman will be used as a depth option as a left centre-back despite being right-footed.
In turn, Chelsea are set to send Aaron Anselmino to Strasbourg as a replacement for Sarr, having recalled the Argentine from his loan spell at Dortmund earlier this month.
Chelsea will then likely continue with their current crop of defenders until the end of the season, with the likes of Josh Acheampong set to remain at the club despite loan interest from Premier League sides ahead of the transfer deadline at 7pm on Monday.
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