Chelsea held “a lot” of January talks to sign a player who’s tipped to “become an idol” very soon, according to one side’s former president and close advisor.
Chelsea sign new midfielder for Enzo Maresca after request
The January window is now over, and Chelsea finished it by concluding a late deal for Saint-Etienne starlet Mathis Amougou at around £12 million.
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Reports in the build up to that transfer suggested that Enzo Maresca was personally very keen on bringing in midfield cover for the likes of Roméo Lavia, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernández, prompting them to even initiate contact over signing Man United starlet Kobbie Mainoo (Simon Phillips).
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Chelsea’s next five Premier League fixtures |
Date |
|---|---|
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Brighton (away) |
February 14th |
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Aston Villa (away) |
February 22nd |
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Southampton (home) |
February 25th |
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Leicester City (home) |
March 9th |
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Arsenal (away) |
March 16th |
However, swooping for a player of Mainoo’s ilk proved too difficult of a deal to do in January, with Amougou arriving instead of the England international and going straight into the Chelsea first-team – despite some rumours he’d be heading to sister club Strasbourg first.
The 19-year-old has put pen to paper on an eight-year contract at Stamford Bridge, and Amougou is thrilled to be at a club showing so much faith in younger players.
“I’m very happy,” said Amougou on joining Chelsea.
“It’s an honour for me to sign for such a big club like Chelsea. They believe in young players and the process they have in place to develop us is fantastic.”
Alongside Mainoo and Amougou, it is also believed by some that Chelsea held a serious interest in signing Reda Belahyane, before his move to Lazio.
The Moroccan was a mainstay for Hellas, with Sky transfer reporter Gianluca Di Marzio claiming Chelsea pushed hard to sign Belahyane and held talks for him to replace Cesare Casadei in midfield.
However, other reliable journalists like Fabrizio Romano also denied any interest from Chelsea in the 20-year-old, so there are real discrepancies in this story.
Hellas Verona chief Maurizio Setti reveals Chelsea talks for Belahyane
Speaking to La Lazio, as transcribed by Sport Witness, former Hellas president Maurzio Setti has moved to state that Chelsea were in fact in talks for Belahyane at one stage.
Setti, who was forced to sell his shares in the club midway through January, now acting as an advisor for the Serie A side, also says that the west Londoners were extremely keen on the former Nice midfielder and held “a lot” of negotiations.
“Chelsea wanted to sign him, and we talked about it a lot, but they wanted a ready player, in the end they didn’t consider him as such, worse for them, at this point better for Lazio,” said Setti.
“But there were also Marseille and Rennes, plus other important Italian teams that had appeared before. Lotito was the most convinced and fastest [in making a move happen].
“We both made a deal, Verona and Lazio, you’ll see that you’ll thank me, he’ll become an idol at Lazio and make the fans fall in love.”
