Chelsea ruined perfect Deadline Day deal with embarrassing swap attempt

Tom Weber

• Updated: 3 Feb 2026 16:33 GMT
• 4 min read

News

Chelsea ruined Abakar Sylla's move from Strasbourg to Gent because they wanted to use the defender as a makeweight for Nantes wonderkid Tylel Tati, according to Belgian media.

Ivory Coast international Sylla was one of BlueCo's first major signings for Strasbourg when he joined the Ligue 1 side from Club Brugge for a whopping €20 million in 2023.

To date, the 23-year-old defender has made 51 appearances for the Alsatians, but he has overall been a fairly underwhelming signing. He lost his starting spot due to a groin problem last term and was unable to retrieve it.

An early injury left him completely out of the project this season and restricted him to just two appearances. As a result, it was clear that he had to leave the club before the end of the January window.

He did end up leaving on Deadline Day. However, he did not return to Belgium as was widely expected. Instead, he joined another Ligue 1 side after a late intervention from Chelsea.

Chelsea ruined Sylla transfer

According to Het Nieuwsblad, the Blues blocked Sylla's proposed transfer to Gent at the last minute. The deal was virtually agreed and would have seen the 23-year-old reunite with manager Rik de Mil in what could have been a perfect move for him.

However, Chelsea had other ideas. It is claimed that Strasbourg received an order from London to pull the plug on the deal because Sylla, who was en route to Belgium, was intended as a makeweight for Nantes wonderkid Tylel Tati.

Chelsea shifted their focus to the 18-year-old once it became clear that they had no chance of beating Liverpool to the signing of Stade Rennais defender Jeremy Jacquet.

Sylla was sent on loan to the relegation-battlers, but Chelsea failed to convince Tati to leave Nantes because they planned for him to initially spend time at Strasbourg.

The teenager, who turned down a lucrative switch to Saudi Arabia last summer, saw little sense in moving to another Ligue 1 side when he is settled in Brittany and already a guaranteed starter despite his youth.

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