OFFICIAL: Chelsea announce four deals as midfield decision made

Updated: 1 Sept 2026 20:38 BST | 4 min read

Tom Weber | Writer

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Chelsea are having a predictably busy Deadline Day, with deals coming in thick and fast.

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The Blues went into the final 24 hours of the transfer window needing to offload several players deemed surplus to requirements, and they are now in the process of achieving exactly that.

Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez has officially completed a season-long loan move to Cesc Fabregas' Como after being replaced by Emiliano Martinez as Chelsea's No.1 at the weekend. The Blues would have ideally preferred to sell the Spaniard but had to settle for a loan.

Current ETV

Robert Sánchez

Como

Robert Sánchez

Como

ETV Range

€11.7M - €14.3M

Young Jamaican striker Dujuan Richards has also departed the club temporarily, joining Wimbledon until the end of the season. Chelsea have, however, managed to get rid of forgotten forward Deivid Washington - although that wasn't all that difficult since they negotiated with themselves.

The Brazilian, signed for €16 million from Santos in 2023, has joined sister club Strasbourg for the exact same fee after making three senior appearances for Chelsea in three years.

Midfield questions linger

The second Strasbourg deal Chelsea have announced is equally eyebrow-raising, albeit for less dodgy reasons. The Blues have sent Dario Essugo to their BlueCo affiliate for the season.

Why is this interesting? Because, as things stand, Chelsea look unlikely to sign a replacement for Man City-bound Enzo Fernandez, so they have potentially left themselves light in the centre of the park.

According to journalist Kieran Gill, Chelsea have not made any progress on a potential new signing in that department in recent hours. With the clock ticking down, it would take something extraordinary for a deal to materialise now.

"Chelsea have agreed this whopping £125m fee [for Fernandez] without having anyone immediately lined up. They tried for Monaco’s Lamine Camara in particular today, and saw two bids of £38.5m and £42.9m turned down," Gill wrote.

"They were also in talks for Roma’s Manu Kone, and pushed for Bournemouth’s Alex Scott earlier in this window to no avail. Crystal Palace don’t want to sell Adam Wharton, and the same goes for Arsenal with Martin Zubimendi.

"So Chelsea sources tonight are talking about how they’ll reassess and go again in January. Still a few hours left, of course. I’m sure they’ll have intermediaries throwing names at them after seeing how Fernandez is leaving without anyone lined up to come in.

"But at the moment, nothing is close, so they’ll have Moises Caicedo, Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Valentin Barco and Jordan Henderson as senior midfield options."