Chelsea use new loophole to complete the strangest deal of the summer

Updated: 31 Aug 2026 16:57 BST | 3 min read

Cameron Smith | Digital Content Producer

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Chelsea have found another transfer loophole and are on the verge of using it to complete the strangest deal of the summer window.

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The west London giants have been market-leaders in the transfer sphere since the arrival of BlueCo as their new owners in 2022 and they have bent the rules on a number of occasions over the past four years.

For example, they tied new signings down to extremely long contracts in order to amortise the transfer fee over multiple years, which led the Premier League to introduce a rule that limits amortisation to a maximum of five years, regardless of how long the player's actual contract is.

Meanwhile, the club sold two hotels to a sister company in order to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

Now, they have bypassed yet another rule by using a new loophole.

Current ETV

Honest Ahanor

D (CL)

Atalanta

Honest Ahanor

D (CL)

Atalanta

ETV Range

€21.4M - €26.2M

Chelsea agree Honest Ahanor deal

Last week, Chelsea struck an agreement to sign Atalanta defender Honest Ahanor for a fee of €48 million, with the club viewing the 18-year-old as a future superstar. They have also agreed to send him on a temporary deal to Crystal Palace for the 2026-27 season as they want him to adapt to English football before being integrated into Xabi Alonso’s first-team squad next year.

However, Chelsea aren’t actually allowed to loan Ahanor to Palace as Premier League clubs are limited to sending just one player on loan to a fellow English top flight team each season and this slot has already been filled by Axel Disasi.

So, Chelsea have agreed to sign Ahanor in 2027 instead, with the defender set to join Palace on loan directly from Atalanta, before officially moving to Stamford Bridge next summer.

© IMAGO - Honest Ahanor is joining Crystal Palace on loan

The move is completely within the rules, but it is another example of Chelsea using hidden loopholes to their benefit and the transfer will arguably go down as the strangest deal of the 2026 summer window when it is officially completed.

Ahanor has made 35 first-team appearances for Atalanta last season, having arrived from Genoa for €16m in 2025, and he will compete with Jaydee Canvot, Chris Richards, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oscar Mingueza and Disasi to start in Palace’s back three throughout

The Italy international will become Crystal Palace’s seventh signing of the summer window when his loan move is confirmed.