Earlier this afternoon, transfer insider Gianluca Di Marzio dropped some rather surprising information.
He claimed that Chelsea were going to sign Rennes right back Guela Doué for a fee potentially rising to €9m, and then loan him to their affiliate club Strasbourg.
This is also what seems to be about to happen with recent signing from MLS, left back Caleb Wiley.
The move didn’t make much sense to us – Chelsea are limited to just 6 foreign loan slots, and they have a whole host of players they need to send out on development loans, and others who no longer have a first team place whose value they want to protect or grow.
We were confused, but Fabrizio Romano has swopped in this afternoon to clear things up – once again running rings around Di Marzio. He says that it’s a straight transfer for Doué from Rennes to Strasbourg, with no Chelsea involvement (beyond having the same ownership as the Alsatians). Romano also claims the price in “in excess of €6m,” as opposed to the “€7m plus €2m bonuses” that
Doué looks to be a great signing for Strasbourg, and can immediately help the first team under new manager Liam Rosenior, who was confirmed today in his new position.
🔵🇫🇷 Strasbourg are completing deal to sign Guela Doué from Rennes, expected to be direct club to club negotiation — not with Chelsea involved.
Final details to sort on player side and then move to be completed for fee in excess of €6m. pic.twitter.com/A3vkou0h5c
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 25, 2024
Confusion returns
This arrangement makes a hell of a lot more sense – and it’s interesting to note that this isn’t the first time that we’ve had a Chelsea-Strasbourg deal reported initially the wrong way round, only for someone better sourced to come in shortly after and correct the original story.
Whether it was Di Marzio getting the weong information, or just misunderstanding and misreporting it isn’t clear. The good news is that it’s cleared up now, and we no longer have to worry about a precious foreign loan slot being taken up just to help Strasbourg.
