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Chelsea made a late unsuccessful bid to land World Cup sensation in January

published :

February 3, 2023

Chelsea were in negotiations with Fiorentina to sign Sofyan Amrabat amidst Enzo Fernandez saga

Chelsea made a last-minute desperate effort to sign Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina on the day of the transfer deadline when they were on the brink of signing Enzo Fernandez.

The news comes from New York Times (subscription required) (via the Daily Mail). When other executives were trying to get Fernandez from Benfica, Todd Boehly reportedly sought another signing in Amrabat.

The Chelsea honcho attempted to secure the signing of the Moroccan midfielder on deadline day. But the Italians quickly rejected the approach and demanded a high sum for a permanent move. In the end, Chelsea were unsuccessful in their efforts.

The American has dominated the transfer market since becoming Chelsea’s new owner. Boehly spent around £270 million during his first summer transfer window, which is the second-highest amount of money spent by a club in the window behind Real Madrid (£292 million) in 2019.

Boehly also exceeded his personal spending record for transfers, spending £288 million in the January transfer window, exceeding his previous record set in the summer. This amount exceeds the combined spending of all Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, and Ligue 1 teams.

With the addition of Fernandez, Chelsea bought a total of eight players in January, meaning that together with other teams, they contributed 37% of the Premier League’s winter transfer spending.

Despite landing Fernandez, another signing wouldn’t have hurt, as Amrabat could have served as Moises Caicedo’s fallback option. He is also a box-to-box midfielder who enjoys carrying the ball forward and can also play in a holding role.

Despite losing him, we have enough midfielders who will be willing to give their all when we are back in action. And we have acquired a highly regarded midfielder who is dedicated to helping us become a dominant club and change our circumstances.