Chelsea transfer collapses to give Pochettino immediate headache; Blues player inadvertently ruined the move

A pre-agreed Chelsea transfer has fallen through, and a current Blues star who arrived in January has inadvertently played a part in derailing the move.

One of the main aims at Chelsea this summer is trimming their bloated squad down to size. The ball is already rolling, with N’Golo Kante joining Al Ittihad and Mateo Kovacic agreeing personal terms with Man City.

However, Chelsea now have an extra player they’re likely to add to their exit list after Malang Sarr’s permanent move to Monaco broke down.

The 24-year-old centre-half joined Monaco on a season-long loan last August. His deal contained an obligation to buy worth around £10m, according to the Evening Standard.

Per Fabrizio Romano, the obligation hinged on an unspecified appearance target. However, according to Monaco’s sporting director, Paul Mitchell, Sarr will not be joining the French side outright and instead has already returned to west London.

Mitchell told Get French Football News: “Malang unfortunately got an injury, a muscular abdominal injury in training a few months ago so he wasn’t available for selection for a long time.

“Malang has already gone back to Chelsea.”

Monaco move unwittingly derailed by Badiashile

Sarr missed Monaco’s last 10 Ligue 1 matches through the injury, though only made 13 league appearances prior to that.

Ironically enough, one player who kept Sarr out of the starting eleven in the first half of the campaign was Benoit Badiashile.

Both players favour the left centre-half role and Badiashile was the preferred option in the run up to the World Cup. Indeed, Sarr featured just six times out of a possible 15 prior to the tournament in Qatar.

Badiashile moved to Chelsea in the winter window in a deal worth £32.7m. Sarr’s gametime quickly improved, though the injury bug then bit and the player did not register enough appearances to trigger the obligation.

The end result sees Sarr return to Stamford Bridge where it’s likely another exit will be explored.

Aside from Badiashile, Pochettino also plans to reintegrate another left-footed centre-back into his first-team plans in the form of Levi Colwill.

Chelsea have already rejected two bids worth £30m and £40m from Brighton for Colwill. Per Romano, the Blues have zero intention of selling a player who looks destined to be a future England international.

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